mash@mips.UUCP (06/12/86)
Could we summarize this, and then go on to something more useful?
SUMMARY:
1) FACT: it is well-known that a well-tuned, 10Mhz 68010 runs integer-type
UNIX user programs at about .7 (give or take .1) the rate of the
corresponding 11/780. The UNIX PC is one of the former.
2) OPINION: "power" is not even close to being a well-defined term. It's like
the movie "Used Cars", where the bad guys try to jail the heroine
for false advertising in claiming she had "jillions" of cars on the lot.
The sheriff says "No. What's a jillion?"
3) OPINION: people aren't impressed by the ad [which is OK], but claiming that
AT&T is evil because "power" really = {something else, not particularly
well defined, either} seems to have little relevance to net.arch.
Some of the arguments are "domain" arguments, i.e., "I think power =
integer performance" vs "you're wrong, power = how many users you can support",
etc.
SUGGESTIONS:
1) PLEASE: extended discussions of the relative slime-level of advertising
probably don't belong in net.arch.
2) The discussion brings to mind a more useful discussion:
a) What are product domains? How do you specify them?
[I.e., a sample domain might be single-user, office system, used mostly
for office applications...]
b) What are the relevant metrics for comparing products within the
same domain?
It's very hard to say anything useful about b) without getting some agreement,
or at least some definitions of a). A lot of useless arguments evaporate
if you preface them with domain-limiters like "in my experience, which is ..."
or "for a <specified> class of product, what's important is..."
--
-john mashey DISCLAIMER: <generic disclaimer, I speak for me only, etc>
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