mp1u+@andrew.cmu.edu (Michael Portuesi) (11/03/87)
kent@xanth.UUCP (Kent Paul Dolan) writes: > Oppose this good advice to Pournelle's iterated complete lack of > understanding of multitasking a couple of lines down in the same > column; again he thinks it's _always_ stealing cycles. Sigh. If > there is something more dangerous than that much influence coupled > with that stubborn an ignorance, I've yet to find it. At least he's > finally discovered that there are other programming languages than > BASIC! And further down the column you can find his gem of a comment that of all the major programming languages, only Modula-2 has support for mulitprocessing built into its structure. I wonder what all the people who designed Ada thought about that one. I really find it hard to believe that the BYTE editorial staff doesn't preview Jerry's columns and tell him when he's being completely and utterly bogus. He's only misleading those who don't know any better and making himself look like a jerk in front of those that do. He does more than make himself look bad; he makes the magazine look bad, too. I also think Jack Tramiel is paying the man off to push the ST and downplay the Amiga. I loved Pournelle's comment that an ST with PC-Ditto and a 68020 could outrun a regular PC. Never mind the fact that you can't run a 68020 in an ST to begin with, or that the same capability has existed on the Amiga for two years. I should really cancel my subscription to BYTE before packaged explosives arrive at Chaos Manor. --M Michael Portuesi / Carnegie Mellon University ARPA/UUCP: mp1u+@andrew.cmu.edu BITNET: rainwalker@drycas (a uVax-1 run by CMU Computer Club) "off the rack or custom-fit, it all seems the same" --ABC, "Date Stamp"
bryce@hoser.berkeley.edu (Bryce Nesbitt) (11/03/87)
In article <@andrew.cmu.edu> mp1u+@andrew.cmu.edu (Michael Portuesi) writes: > >I should really cancel my subscription to BYTE before packaged >explosives arrive at Chaos Manor. Why not just send a normal letter with polite corrections? I've only met Jerry once (Hackers V3.0) but he seemed reasonably receptive to technical correction. Also get see if you can get your hands on a copy of October Robo City News. "Hacking At Poor Palace" should have you rolling with laughter. (Let us just say that it is the "other approach" to correcting Jerry Pournelle's technical blunders). If I had a scanner I'd upload it. Good stuff. Robo's subsciption "cool-line" is 415-595-5452. "...more fluff, less stuff." |\ /| . Ack! (NAK, SOH, EOT) {o O} . bryce@hoser.berkeley.EDU -or- ucbvax!hoser!bryce (") U "You can count how many seeds are in an Apple, but not how many Apples are in a seed." -Ken Kesey
zabot@cesare.dec.com (Adv.Tech.Mgr-ACT Torino) (11/07/87)
In support of Michel Portuesi statement: ' I should really cancel my subscription to BYTE before packaged explosives arrive at Chaos Manor.' I did it , for the same reason !! ( I canceled the subscription,I mean. I didn't think of explosives :-) marco
grr@cbmvax.UUCP (George Robbins) (11/07/87)
In article <21575@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> bryce@hoser.berkeley.edu (Bryce Nesbitt) writes: > In article <@andrew.cmu.edu> mp1u+@andrew.cmu.edu (Michael Portuesi) writes: > > > >I should really cancel my subscription to BYTE before packaged > >explosives arrive at Chaos Manor. > > Why not just send a normal letter with polite corrections? I've > only met Jerry once (Hackers V3.0) but he seemed reasonably > receptive to technical correction. Well said! Actually Jerry has a number of online groups on BIX where he gets hammered when he come out with something silly. Unfortunatly, by the time the Chaos Manner articles are posted on BIX, they are already committed to print, so all you can hope is that he'll think harder or ask a few questions next time. Jerry does seem to favor the ST, but we'll allow him his own opinions. I suspect it's simply that some ST affectionado was showing him how wonderful the ST was, while the Amiga hackers were still trying to master the true power of the Amiga. -- George Robbins - now working for, uucp: {ihnp4|rutgers|allegra}!cbmvax!grr but no way officially representing arpa: out to lunch... Commodore, Engineering Department fone: 215-431-9255 (only by moonlite)
peter@sugar.UUCP (Peter da Silva) (11/08/87)
It's impossible to get through to the man. I've sent him two letters by USmail, and one letter by MCImail describing the difference between the sort of crummy multitasking the IBM-PC multitaskers give you and what the Amiga does. I've also written him about his completely baroque view of UNIX. I've received a grand total of two responses (paraphrased): 1) "What do you mean I'm incompetant" scrawled under a place I'd written that he should find someone competant to advise him about the differences between UNIX and MS-DOS Version 2.0. 2) "Send me real mail, I can't use this stupid system" referring to MCI mail. So I got a printout of my letter and mailed it to him. No response. -- -- Peter da Silva `-_-' ...!hoptoad!academ!uhnix1!sugar!peter -- Disclaimer: These U aren't mere opinions... these are *values*.
wtm@neoucom.UUCP (Bill Mayhew) (11/08/87)
I found good ole Jer's comments about modula 2 being the first inherrently parallel language rather amusing. I don't know if the creators of Ada or Occam would be so amused, though. I'm sort of surpriesed that Jerry doesn't know about Occam, since Inmos ported it for the Transputer. For a while you could even buy a transputer card for that Apple II. And I thought Jer was an avaid Atari-phile. He ought to know all about the transputer. I can see it now, Jack T.'s emphemeral (vaporware?) computer with a transputer running a CP/M emulator written in modula 2, running MBASIC, running Jerry's wonderful accounting software. I'm puzzled by Jerry's arogance and lack of sophistication that comes across in Byte. I've read him in other magazines where he comes offf pretty much as a rational, somewhat intelligent, nice guy. At first, I didn't recognize Jerry when he appeared on "The Computer Show", as I was expecting somebody with a Chaos Manner mentality and appearance that my mental image had constructed. Really, Byte does waste qutie a lot of space on Jerry's column. I can't imagine who reads it. It doesn't seem like it would be of interest to the IBM-blue-droids that the rest of Byte's editorial content is aimed at. I don't understand why his editors permit him to say things that are so obviously incorrect and mis-informed. Perhaps, Jer is a mojority stock holder so something? Bill (wtm@neoucom.UUCP)
sam@utcsri.UUCP (11/09/87)
In article <MVXJ4ry00UgLQZg07J@andrew.cmu.edu> mp1u+@andrew.cmu.edu (Michael Portuesi) writes: >kent@xanth.UUCP (Kent Paul Dolan) writes: >> Oppose this good advice to Pournelle's iterated complete lack of >> understanding of multitasking a couple of lines down in the same >> column; again he thinks it's _always_ stealing cycles. Sigh. If > >And further down the column you can find his gem of a comment that of >all the major programming languages, only Modula-2 has support for >mulitprocessing built into its structure. I wonder what all the This is especially cute when you realise that Modula-2's 'support' of multitasking only allows a single process to run at one time, and that control can only be transfered when the running process makes a 'Transfer' call. As the language specification states, "In principle, process interaction should be confined to a monitor....However, because we have stipulated that [the "Processes"] module be implemented on a single-processor computer, concurrent interaction is by definition impossible...and therefore the specification of a monitor...is redundant." Multiprocessing for people who do not like multiprocessing. -- -Sam Weber "As long as people will accept crap, it will be financially profitable to dispense it" --Dick Cavett UUCP: {ihnp4 utzoo decwrl uw-beaver}!utcsri!sam ARPA: sam@csri.toronto.edu CSNET: sam@toronto
dillon@CORY.BERKELEY.EDU (Matt Dillon) (11/09/87)
>I found good ole Jer's comments about modula 2 being the first >inherrently parallel language rather amusing. I don't know if Not only that, but as far as parallel languages go Modula 2 sucks. Most implementations utilize the light-weight processes concept. This is hardly parallel. -Matt
joels@tekred.TEK.COM (Joel Swank) (11/10/87)
Verry Poursmelle was an important factor in my purchase of an Amiga. I had been seriously considering the purchase of an Amiga when, I read his ravings against the Amiga in Infoworld or another of the rags where he spreads his disinformation. I figured that if he was against it, it must be a good machine, and decided to buy one. Joel Swank Tektronix, Redmond, Oregon joels@tekred.TEK.COM
tim@ism780c.UUCP (Tim Smith) (11/11/87)
mp1u+@andrew.cmu.edu (Michael Portuesi) writes:
< And further down the column you can find his gem of a comment that of
< all the major programming languages, only Modula-2 has support for
^^^^^
< mulitprocessing built into its structure. I wonder what all the
< people who designed Ada thought about that one.
Perhaps he doesn't consider Ada to be a *major* programming language?
--
Tim Smith, Knowledgian {sdcrdcf,uunet}!ism780c!tim
tim@ism780c.isc.comewhac@well.UUCP (11/12/87)
In article <5635@utcsri.UUCP> sam@utcsri.UUCP (Samuel Monk Weber) writes: >This is especially cute when you realise that Modula-2's 'support' of >multitasking only allows a single process to run at one time, and >that control can only be transfered when the running process makes a >'Transfer' call. [ ... ] Hmmm. From what I've read, this language sounds like it was designed to work with MultiFinder. Or maybe it's the other way around. :-) _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ Leo L. Schwab -- The Guy in The Cape ihnp4!ptsfa -\ \_ -_ Recumbent Bikes: dual ---> !{well,unicom}!ewhac O----^o The Only Way To Fly. hplabs / (pronounced "AE-wack") "Work FOR? I don't work FOR anybody! I'm just having fun." -- The Doctor
jpdres10@usl-pc.UUCP (Green Eric Lee) (11/17/87)
In message <7863@ism780c.UUCP>, tim@ism780c.UUCP says: >mp1u+@andrew.cmu.edu (Michael Portuesi) writes: >< And further down the column you can find his gem of a comment that of >< all the major programming languages, only Modula-2 has support for > ^^^^^ >< mulitprocessing built into its structure. I wonder what all the >< people who designed Ada thought about that one. > >Perhaps he doesn't consider Ada to be a *major* programming language? Or maybe he just has trouble running Ada on his ancient boat-anchor 6mhz Z-80 CP/M machine :-). (actually, he probably has a problem running Ada on ANY current low-price microcomputer... yeah, there's a couple of compilers that do exist, but either incomplete and slow, or so expensive that only the Department of Defense can afford them). -- Eric Green elg@usl.CSNET from BEYOND nowhere: {ihnp4,cbosgd}!killer!elg, P.O. Box 92191, Lafayette, LA 70509 {ut-sally,killer}!usl!elg "there's someone in my head, but it's not me..."