ganesh@utah-cs.UUCP (Ganesh C Gopalakrishnan) (01/22/87)
If one goes by the rule "small is beautiful", XINU is
extremely beautiful! My decision to choose Minix for a
quarter-long Undergrad. OS course was based on the following :
- Sheer desire to try something new.
- XINU book explains the LSI-11 organization; the software
is however available for the PC, 68000, LSI-11, etc.,
(and perhaps soon for the Mac??)
Hopefully a revised edition of Doug Comer's book would
discuss machine-specific details for these other machines.
- XINU for the PC needs an Astek C compiler, and I didn't have
one. Costs $$.
- I feel that XINU (with a revised book) MAY be better suited
for the following kinds of classes.
* Microcomputer labs, where the small size of XINU would help
* Certain introductory courses to OS
- For a quarter-long course for Undergrads, Minix is still good;
however, there wouldn't be enough time to cover all aspects of Minix.
- Minix's richer set of system calls, signals, and message based organization
(based on rendezvous) are of high educational value.
In conclusion, comparing XINU with Minix is like comparing apples and oranges.
Both are good in their own ways.