greyelf@wpi.wpi.edu (Michael J Pender) (03/15/90)
This may rub many of you the wrong way, but hear it out anyway. Multiprocessing is the use of several processors to do jobs on a computer. What we are really discussing is multiprogramming, running several programs concurrently. Within the apple IIs 128K space multiprocessing is a dream that will not be met. Its just not worth investing the effort. On a IIgs, with several hundred K of directly accessable memory it is certainly possible to build and run a decent multiprocessing environment. But on a II+/c/e or even my 128, there is just not enough memory directly available to make it work. If we all agreed to multiprocess only p-code programs from a ramdisk, yeah, we could do it, but it would not be as useful. The features we could (and shall?) add should include background tasks, i/o redirection, pipes are really just i/o redirection, and could be implemented indirectly anyhow... Tasks like print.cmd that come up, do their stuff, then excuse themselves when done are the best, because they don't permanently tie up memory. Programs like Daemon that allow lots of such tasks at the same time would be much more useful if the authors made them freeware and made the source code available. (shall I take my own advice?) Just these additional features will make Prodos very nice to work with. --- Michael J Pender Jr Box 1942 c/o W.P.I. W.O.S. is not dead. greyelf@wpi.bitnet 100 Institute Rd. ...its time to get started, greyelf@wpi.wpi.edu Worcester, Ma 01609 there is much to be done. If my next computer isn't a IIgs, it won't be an apple... Me.