dprrhb@inetg1.ARCO.COM (Reginald H. Beardsley) (06/18/91)
The real issue in maintaining anything is the complexity of the system and the load level. The larger the network the more it will fail. A charity running SCO or ISC on a 386 to do a bit of database work and accounting is not likely to put much load on the system. Without other experience as a reference point, the users may not be aware that they have problems, hence no complaints. I have frequently seen people accept extremely poor system performance because they assumed that nothing could be done about it. Put the same machine in the hands of knowledgable users and there will be loud screams for maintenance. As was observed, Unix is here because it was the only game in town. It has nothing to do with it's virtues. It will continue to be here for some time because the labor of replacing it is not trivial. It meets the basic needs of many people. You can almost always find a workaround. If you want a better OS, face Murray Hill and pray for Plan 9 or Amersterdam and pray for Amoeba :-). (BTW. I am aware that there are other OS projects going on, these two are simply my candidates for being closest to general availability.) Have fun all. -- Reginald H. Beardsley ARCO Information Services Plano, TX 75075 Phone: (214)-754-6785 Internet: dprrhb@arco.com