lauren@Lbl-Unix@sri-unix (12/06/82)
From: Lauren Weinstein <vortex!lauren@Lbl-Unix> Given that MARC tries the best it can to provide a Unix-like environment on 8-bit micros, it probably is fair to suggest that MARC has many of the same advantages and disadvantages of Unix. I would add a couple of points, however: 1) Even with its "complexity", UNIX is becoming widely accepted in the "real world", including the business community. This would seem to indicate that, one way or another, we will have more and more "Unix-literate" people around. Remember also that MARC *is* simpler than Unix (simply because it is smaller) and hopefully is documented well enough that a reasonably intelligent person can figure out what is going on. Users who already *are* familiar with Unix have successfully used MARC without even looking at a MARC manual, simply because MARC and Unix *are* so similar at the external level, so these people really have it easy! 2) Unix isn't *really* that complex unless you *make* it complex. I've seen numerous secretaries who had *no* computer experience become reasonably proficient at using Unix in a very short period of time. Most of them loved it, once they got used to the whole concept of computers in general. I might add that systems which try to be all things to all people usually end up being of little value to anyone, but that's a personal opinion, of course. --Lauren--