pjd@cwruecmp.UUCP (Dr. Funk) (03/24/84)
Can't resist putting in my two cents.... What is "state of the art" or "cutting edge?" Subjective terms such as these will always draw flames from the religous zealots. :-) Although it is important for undergraduates to learn at least one particular machine and operating system in depth, they should be exposed to a broad spectrum of systems and philosophies. Neophyte architects/system programmers cannot gain an historical perspective overnight. By learning one system in depth and then comparing and contrasting with others, the student will develop taste and hopefully a list of mistakes to avoid in the future. As an undergraduate (and Oh God am I about to date myself) I learned the PDP-10, TOPS-10 and BLISS in depth. I had TSS/360 and various PDP-11's and a host of programming languages for comparison. Hence, I settled on Unix and 11's early (1975) and am now looking forward to 68000, 32032, etc. and whatever will be invented AFTER Unix. My only gripe -- manufacturers don't spread it around enough. I'd really like to expose my students to a spectrum of machines and operating systems, but it takes capital. (Apologies to those firms who have helped us in the past. paul drongowski decvax!cwruecmp!pjd case western reserve university pjd.Case@Rand-Relay