Unix Myths 13“standard” being applied to software systems such as Unix. Real standards,
wrote Schilling, are for physical objects like steel beams: they let designers
order a part and incorporate it into their design with foreknowledge of how
it will perform under real-world conditions. “If a beam fails in service, then
the builder’s lawyers call the beam maker’s lawyers to discuss things like
compensatory and punitive damages.” Apparently, the threat of liability
keeps most companies honest; those who aren’t honest presumably get shut
down soon enough.
This notion of standards breaks down when applied to software systems.
What sort of specification does a version of Unix satisfy? POSIX? X/
Open? CORBA? There is so much wiggle room in these standards as to
make the idea that a company might have liability for not following them
ludicrous to ponder. Indeed, everybody follows these self-designed stan-
dards, yet none of the products are compatible.
Sun Microsystems recently announced that it was joining with NeXT to
promulgate OpenStep, a new standard for object-oriented user interfaces.
To achieve this openness, Sun would will wrap C++ and DOE around
Objective-C and NEXTSTEP. Can’t decide which standard you want to
follow? No problem: now you can follow them all.
Hope you don’t have to get any work done in the meantime.
Unix Myths
Drug users lie to themselves. “Pot won’t make me stupid.” “I’m just going
to try crack once.” “I can stop anytime that I want to.” If you are in the
market for drugs, you’ll hear these lies.
Unix has its own collection of myths, as well as a network of dealers push-
ing them. Perhaps you’ve seen them before:
- It’s standard.
- It’s fast and efficient.
- It’s the right OS for all purposes.
- It’s small, simple, and elegant.
- Shellscripts and pipelines are great way to structure complex
problems and systems. - It’s documented online.