bob@imspw6.UUCP (Bob Burch) (01/22/89)
From: William A. Bralick, Air Force Institute of Technology >Let us say that the government makes it illegal for an American to >supply high technology products (e.g. M68020 processors, Ada compilers, >whatever) to the Soviet Union. It is now incumbent on American >citizens to avoid transferring high technology to the USSR. If one >chooses to supply such technology to the Soviets, then one can be >prosecuted for violating the export control restrictions. It strikes me funny that the one thing which IS legal to send to our brethren back in the CCCP is the common little 12 mh AT clone, demonstrably the best computer which has ever existed for at least 90% of all uses. If I really wanted to f___ the Soviet Union over and set them back 30 years in computer science, AT clones are the LAST thing I'd send them. I WOULD send them UNIVAC and IBM mainframes, especially the UNIVAC 1180 models, VAXs, Wang minis...... multi-user computers are like communism in a way in as much as they promote large-scale neglect of human nature; in 20 years of working with computers, I have never yet seen anybody smile on account of using a multi-user computer. Has anybody ever seen the boss hire five more people and then go out and purchase five more quantums of compute power for his VAX or 1100??? Hell no, he goes out and buys five more terminals, it's the American way..... or is it the Russian way?? There is nothing I can think of which would cause me to hate Russians sufficiently to want to export Ada technology to them. On the other hand, if Mr. Khrudaffi is looking for a new programming language for his nerve gas factory computers....... >How about comp.gulag, or comp.totalitarian? How about simply comp.CCCP There are only a handful of reasons which have ever made sense for hating other nations or wishing to fight wars with them, and several of those have fallen by the wayside in this century. Religion (communism vs capitalism) and real-estate (e.g. the West bank of the Jordan) may still make sense, but the Russians are fast giving up on communism and they have more land than they'll ever know what to do with. The Russians are simply the wrong enemy for our times. Ted Holden HTE -------------------------------------------------------------- "Johnson!!, you're the idiot who bought those PS/2s and that system 36 over there?!?!?!?!?..... YOU'RE FIRED!!!!!!!" ---------------------------------------------------------------
peter@ficc.uu.net (Peter da Silva) (01/23/89)
In article <215@imspw6.UUCP>, bob@imspw6.UUCP (Bob Burch) writes: > It strikes me funny that the one thing which IS legal to send to our brethren > back in the CCCP is the common little 12 mh AT clone, demonstrably the > best computer which has ever existed for at least 90% of all uses. Boy oh boy, is this joker going to get flamed. What's a 12 millihenry AT, anyway? :-> -- Peter da Silva, Xenix Support, Ferranti International Controls Corporation. Work: uunet.uu.net!ficc!peter, peter@ficc.uu.net, +1 713 274 5180. `-_-' Home: bigtex!texbell!sugar!peter, peter@sugar.uu.net. 'U` Opinions may not represent the policies of FICC or the Xenix Support group.
usenet@cps3xx.UUCP (Usenet file owner) (01/24/89)
BRAVO! Suddenly a sane voice in the wilderness! I congratulate you, sir!
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Robert Raisch - TechnoJunkie & UnixNut| UseNet: {uunet,mailrus}!frith!raisch
Network Software Group-301 Comp.Center| InterNet: raisch@frith.egr.msu.edu
Michigan State University, E. Lansing | ICBMNet: 084 28 50 W / 42 43 29 N
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The meek WILL inherit the Earth, (Some of us have other plans).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------daveh@cbmvax.UUCP (Dave Haynie) (01/27/89)
in article <215@imspw6.UUCP>, bob@imspw6.UUCP (Bob Burch) says: > It strikes me funny that the one thing which IS legal to send to our brethren > back in the CCCP is the common little 12 mh AT clone, demonstrably the > best computer which has ever existed for at least 90% of all uses. The _only_ thing that makes an AT clone a useful computer is the availability of software. And there's undeniably a vast amount of software that'll run on it, even if 95% of this software runs in 8088 emulation mode. From a systems point of view, the '286 is exactly the CPU I'd make available to someone I'm trying to confuse about programming, etc. That includes Z-80s and 6502s. Maybe there's a big mainframe that presents a worse programming model, and those old RCA 1802 chips may run a close second, but, really, this '286 thing is one kludge on top of another. It's usefulness to Soviet programmers in the great scheme of things is probably best measured by the matrix of how much PC software is in Russian and how many of them know English. If they can use much of the software that's around for it, they'll get far. But no matter how many times you reinvent the wheel, if that wheel's designed to fit a Ford Model T, you're probably just better off looking for a real car to design wheels for. -- Dave Haynie "The 32 Bit Guy" Commodore-Amiga "The Crew That Never Rests" {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!daveh PLINK: D-DAVE H BIX: hazy Amiga -- It's not just a job, it's an obsession