Linux-Advocacy Digest #903, Volume #27 Mon, 24 Jul 00 01:13:04 EDT
Contents:
Re: Just curious, how do I do this in Windows? ("Aaron R. Kulkis")
Re: Why use Linux? ("Spud")
Re: If Microsoft starts renting apts (was: If Microsoft starts ("Aaron R.
Kulkis")
Re: Just curious, how do I do this in Windows? ("Aaron R. Kulkis")
Re: Why use Linux? (T. Max Devlin)
Re: Why use Linux? ("Spud")
Re: Anti-Human Libertarians Oppose Microsoft Antitrust Action (was: Microsoft
Ruling Too Harsh (Donovan Rebbechi)
Re: The real faux paus of the U.S. military... (was Re: The Failure of the USS
Yorktown) (Woofbert)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: "Aaron R. Kulkis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy
Subject: Re: Just curious, how do I do this in Windows?
Date: Mon, 24 Jul 2000 00:35:46 -0400
From:
"Aaron R. Kulkis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
12:28 AM
Subject:
Re: Just curious, how do I do this in Windows?
"T. Max Devlin" wrote:
>
> Said Drestin Black in comp.os.linux.advocacy;
> [...]
> >Actually - I never ever have need for this function in BASIC which is why i
> >was unfamiliar with it so I just jotted out a brute force solution - the
> >first thing to pop to mind. I didn't sit and dwell on it or spend more than
> >a few seconds to pound out the code. Someone just said "couldn't be done in
> >VB" - and I did. That's all.
> >
> >Your version from the C version is more efficient.
>
> From what I heard, the version in C worked, and yours didn't.
That's because Drestin is a genuine Microsoft Professional(tm)....
although professional *what* is the subject of some debate.
>
> I would actually like to make a different comment, though. Intruding as
> I am (always) in the thread, I happened upon this post and grew quite
> agitated by something you did.
>
> If I might point out that your usage of terminology in the first
> sentence of your post is problematic. You refer to BASIC, a
> scripting-style programming language which proved useful for educational
> purposes, and as a simplistic mechanism for providing a programming
> language-like facility to end users who do not need to program, but
> could benefit from simple application or operating-system level
> scripting. In the early years of the PC, BASIC was a very useful, if
> not very powerful, tool for non-CS users. It provided a basic template,
> if you will, for the WordPerfect macro language, as well as the
> subsequent Word Basic, and a wide array of "fourth generation"
> languages, including dBase and the like.'
Yes, it is an introductory language.
>
> You are not dealing with BASIC. Microsoft's "Visual Basic" 'programming
> language' has as little to do with BASIC as the WB has to do with Edward
> R. Murrow. Please don't use the term BASIC in referring to whatever the
> hell you do with Visual Basic. It will only serve to confuse those not
> familiar with either, and leads to unfortunate encouragement of
> cluelessness.
Yet, the "big-endian <==> little-endian" problem was one which
drestin couldn't even attempt without using strings.... I.e. ABUSING
the variable type.
>
> --
> T. Max Devlin
> Manager of Research & Educational Services
> Managed Services
> ELTRAX Technology Services Group
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> -[Opinions expressed are my own; everyone else, including
> my employer, has to pay for them, subject to
> applicable licensing agreement]-
>
> -----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
> http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
> -----== Over 80,000 Newsgroups - 16 Different Servers! =-----
--
Aaron R. Kulkis
Unix Systems Engineer
ICQ # 3056642
I: "Having found not one single carbon monoxide leak on the entire
premises, it is my belief, and Willard concurs, that the reason
you folks feel listless and disoriented is simply because
you are lazy, stupid people"
A: The wise man is mocked by fools.
B: "Jeem" Dutton is a fool of the pathological liar sort.
C: Jet plays the fool and spews out nonsense as a method of
sidetracking discussions which are headed in a direction
that she doesn't like.
D: Jet claims to have killfiled me.
E: Jet now follows me from newgroup to newsgroup
...despite (D) above.
F: Neither Jeem nor Jet are worthy of the time to compose a
response until their behavior improves.
G: Unit_4's "Kook hunt" reminds me of "Jimmy Baker's" harangues against
adultery while concurrently committing adultery with Tammy Hahn.
H: Knackos...you're a retard.
------------------------------
From: "Spud" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Why use Linux?
Date: Sun, 23 Jul 2000 21:38:26 -0700
[snips]
"Arthur Frain" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> Spud wrote:
>
> > I note, with some amusement, the implications of this. "Microsoft
has a
> > bug! It's bad" - the implication being that some comparable
system - eg
> > Linux - has *no* bugs. I'd be very surprised indeed to discover
that Linux,
> > it all its glory, contains not one, single bug anywhere. Or
perhaps the
> > author is suggesting that Linux, unlike Windows, magically fixes
bugs
> > without the need to ever install patches or updates? Again, I'd
be very
> > surprised.
>
> > Yes, Windows 95 and 98 - and even 2K - out of the box have bugs.
Last I
> > heard, so does Linux. And BeOS, and MacOS, and...
>
> > So what's your point?
>
> The point is that you're arguing that Win98 is easy
> to use at the same time you're arguing that it has
> bugs that make it extremely difficult to use.
Not at all. I do wish some of you folks would actually think about
what you're saying, at least for a second or two before saying it.
Let's recap:
Does Win98 have bugs? Yes.
Does Linux have bugs? Yes.
Does this bear any necessary relation to usability? No.
Does the fact that 98 has bugs make Linux more usable? No.
So, Win98 can't be usable, because it has bugs.
Uh huh. Brilliant conclusion. Truly stupendous logic. Have a
banana.
> My daughter's brand new HP Win98SE based computer
> cannot handle a simple thing like finding the
> Network Interface Card.
I'm sure it can... if you pay the slightest attention to what I've
said regarding this issue elsewhere. I've also pointed out this is,
in all probability, an HP-caused issue. Feel free to ignore the
advice given, and to blame MS for someone else's failings, but that
doesn't support your point.
> I don't doubt that any OS has bugs somewhere.
> That's the same as saying all of us have
> sexual desires. But we are not all rapists,
> and most OS bugs are not as glaring,
> annoying or frequently encountered as the
> bugs in Windows. I have never encountered
> a bug in Linux (2.0 or 2.2) that has
> required even a work around,
Try Mandrake's latest offering. *Every* time I try to configure the
sound card, it freezes the machine solid. Oh, yeah, well, no bugs
there requiring workarounds, eh?
------------------------------
From: "Aaron R. Kulkis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To:
comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy,comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy,alt.fan.bill-gates,soc.singles,alt.fan.rush-limbaugh
Subject: Re: If Microsoft starts renting apts (was: If Microsoft starts
Date: Mon, 24 Jul 2000 00:38:00 -0400
"Clell A. Harmon" wrote:
>
> On Sun, 23 Jul 2000 14:54:43 -0400, "Aaron R. Kulkis"
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> >> >> >> Said Aaron R. Kulkis in alt.fan.bill-gates;
> >> >> >> >> All of this discussion about Microsoft renting apps with .NET
> >> >> >> >> got me to thinking...what are we facing if, in fact, Microsoft
> >> >> >> >> does start renting apts???
> >> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> >> Microsoft Apts 2000
> >> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> >> WINDOW
> >> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> >> No apartment may ever have more than one window. Residents might
> >> >> >> >> forget which window they were looking out of and get confused.
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> [...]
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> Hilarious! Where'd it come from?
> >> >> >
> >> >> >I wrote it.
> >> >>
> >> >> No, really.
> >> >
> >> >Do I have to post a damn copyright notice?
> >>
> >> Steal one of those too?
> >
> >you're not funny, you're just droll.
>
> See what I mean Aaron? You couldn't have written it, you use
> words casually that you don't know the meaning of. To actually write
> an amusing piece like the above is beyond you.'
Never underestimate your opponent.
--
Aaron R. Kulkis
Unix Systems Engineer
ICQ # 3056642
I: "Having found not one single carbon monoxide leak on the entire
premises, it is my belief, and Willard concurs, that the reason
you folks feel listless and disoriented is simply because
you are lazy, stupid people"
A: The wise man is mocked by fools.
B: "Jeem" Dutton is a fool of the pathological liar sort.
C: Jet plays the fool and spews out nonsense as a method of
sidetracking discussions which are headed in a direction
that she doesn't like.
D: Jet claims to have killfiled me.
E: Jet now follows me from newgroup to newsgroup
...despite (D) above.
F: Neither Jeem nor Jet are worthy of the time to compose a
response until their behavior improves.
G: Unit_4's "Kook hunt" reminds me of "Jimmy Baker's" harangues against
adultery while concurrently committing adultery with Tammy Hahn.
H: Knackos...you're a retard.
------------------------------
From: "Aaron R. Kulkis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy
Subject: Re: Just curious, how do I do this in Windows?
Date: Mon, 24 Jul 2000 00:41:17 -0400
"T. Max Devlin" wrote:
>
> Said The Ghost In The Machine in comp.os.linux.advocacy;
> [...]
> >>This is my understanding of Big Endian and Little Endian:
> >>
> >>"On an Intel computer, the little end is stored first. This means a Hex word
> >>like 0x1234 is stored in memory as (0x34 0x12). The little end, or lower
> >>end, is stored first. The same is true for a four-byte value; for example,
> >>0x12345678 would be stored as (0x78 0x56 0x34 0x12). "Big End In" does this
> >>in the reverse fashion, so 0x1234 would be stored as (0x12 0x34) in memory.
> >>"
> >>
> >>So, I took it to mean inputting: 0x12345678 I should output: 0x78563412 -
> >>and so on.
> >
> >You are more or less correct in that understanding. VAXen,
> >for example, were also little endian; HPs and Suns, however,
> >are big endian. (Gave us fits at my prior employer some years
> >back, when we first ported from Apollo, Sun, and HP, all of which
> >were big endian, to NT on ix86, which was little endian.)
>
> For those less well endowed programmatically, could I point out, purely
> for consistencies sake, that Mr. Black's (if I have the attributes
> right) "or lower end", is a minor problem for me, personally? I believe
> the better term, by being conventional, which is to say almost universal
> throughout the technical sciences, is "least significant digit".
>
> I will leave it for those more classically educated than I to determine
> if Mr. Black's presentation indicates he is notably ignorant of the
> term, which is quite 'significant', if I might say, to the issue at
> hand.
>
> >>
> >>So... hows this?
> >
> >[terrible programming example using BASIC strings snipped]
>
> Please. Visual Basic strings. Could I beg your indulgence in allowing
> that BASIC, as contrasted quite definitely to 'Visual Basic', is a
> language (I am begging indulgence, please remember) that should not be
> confused with Microsoft's pseudo-development environment monstrosity?
> Even if the string manipulations would have worked in a classic BASIC
> environment, Drestin's use of them for 'endian' manipulations are so
> problematic that even a BASIC 'programmer' should not contemplate them.
>
> >Ye gods; strings to do endianity flips? Try this one:
> >
> > long endianFlip(long inp)
> > {union
> > {long l;char c[sizeof(long)];} u;int i, j;
> > for(i=0, j=sizeof(long)-1; i>j; i++,j--)
> > {t = u.c[i]; u.c[i] = u.c[j]; u.c[j] = t;}
> >> return u.l;}
>
> Could you check my editing? And is the "(long)-" a 'one', or an 'l'?
>
> Christ, I might as well ask for a programming tutorial, and hope that
> someone is willing to explain what "++" means. Would it help if I
> mentioned that I can probably figure out "--", if the explanation is
> really patient?
>
> >Or, if you prefer, try this one:
> >
> > #include <limits.h>
> > long endianFlip(long inp)
> > {long mask = ((1<<CHAR_BIT)-1);long ret = 0; int i;
> > for(i=0;i<sizeof(long);i++)
> > {ret <<= CHAR_BIT;ret |= (mask & inp);inp >>= CHAR_BIT;}
> > return ret;}
> >
> >(CHAR_BIT is a system-dependent constant that is the number of
> >bits in a char. Nowadays it's almost always 8, but using
> >Magic Numbers(tm) in one's code is almost always a Bad Thing(tm). :-) )
>
> I don't think you can trademark either of those; they're both in the
> Jargon File. Sorry.
>
> But I thought "nowadays", it would be 32 or even 64! What gives?
>
> >I'm not sure which one would be faster or is cleaner, but both would
> >beat your string handler.
>
> Trying to figure things out from your examples, it occurs to me that
> I've never quite really *grasped* the semicolon, ';' in code. It seems
> to be an *ending*, not just a delimiter. An "execute" command, maybe?
> I'm interested in hearing what anyone might have to say on the gestalt
> of this kind of thing. I've had to work with some C, and a lot of perl
> code, but I don't have the benefit of a formal education. I don't even
> have (and wouldn't accept, at this point, if offered) Mr. Black's
> background in using VB. I truly apologize if my intrusion is a bother,
> but I would *like* to be able to cobble together simple programs, and
> I'm not sure if the reason I'm not doing so is because of a lack of
> benefit (given the MS monopoly, but I do have perl) or a lack of
> ability. I'm not at all good with math. Mathematics, actually, isn't
> so much a problem as 'arithmetic'. But either way, I hope to be able to
> be really *efficient*, which is to say I want to learn the minimal
> amount for maximum capabilities, at scripting and maybe simple source
> code hacking.
>
> So anyway, is the semicolon a "go", rather than a delimiter? And what
> would you suggest would be the easiest way to use a background in BASIC
> to attack Linux?
Oh man...trying to describe the syntax rules for the use of the
colon would take about 5 pages. And then, in Pascal, the rules
are similar, but somewhat different (final statement on a code
block in pascal is PROHIBITED from having a semi-colon terminator.
Why? who the hell knows. Ask Niclaus Wirth.)
>
> --
> T. Max Devlin
> Manager of Research & Educational Services
> Managed Services
> ELTRAX Technology Services Group
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> -[Opinions expressed are my own; everyone else, including
> my employer, has to pay for them, subject to
> applicable licensing agreement]-
>
> -----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
> http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
> -----== Over 80,000 Newsgroups - 16 Different Servers! =-----
--
Aaron R. Kulkis
Unix Systems Engineer
ICQ # 3056642
I: "Having found not one single carbon monoxide leak on the entire
premises, it is my belief, and Willard concurs, that the reason
you folks feel listless and disoriented is simply because
you are lazy, stupid people"
A: The wise man is mocked by fools.
B: "Jeem" Dutton is a fool of the pathological liar sort.
C: Jet plays the fool and spews out nonsense as a method of
sidetracking discussions which are headed in a direction
that she doesn't like.
D: Jet claims to have killfiled me.
E: Jet now follows me from newgroup to newsgroup
...despite (D) above.
F: Neither Jeem nor Jet are worthy of the time to compose a
response until their behavior improves.
G: Unit_4's "Kook hunt" reminds me of "Jimmy Baker's" harangues against
adultery while concurrently committing adultery with Tammy Hahn.
H: Knackos...you're a retard.
------------------------------
From: T. Max Devlin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Why use Linux?
Date: Mon, 24 Jul 2000 00:44:47 -0400
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Said MH in comp.os.linux.advocacy;
>[...]The fact that there were 63000 tells me that at least
>people were looking and writing it down! Some stuff slips through the cracks
>at Red Hat that REALLY makes your head spin. Check into it.
Nice reposte. But could you give just one or two examples. I'm
liberal; don't worry about it being too trivial to the engineers. I've
seen some incredibly stupid mistakes that lasted for *years* without
being corrected in some Unix apps.
>Your obviously weak hype is meant to make someone think: (1), you know what
>you're talking about, and (2). that this product is SO bad, that it will
>fall down as soon as it's implemented. Now, we know #2 isn't true, the
>product has been adopted in the millions, and I don't hear that many people
>screaming, do you? So that leaves #1. The defense rests on # 1, for sure
>your Honor.
Sorry, but I don't think W2K, if that's what your talking about, has
gotten anywhere near what would get beyond #2. So far as I can see from
within my corner of the industry (network management, so I see a broad
scope of many diverse implementations), W2K has been an even bigger bomb
that W98 originally was. You don't hear may people screaming, because
not many people are really *implementing* it. And that goes for W98,
too. Within the large corporations, the stuff is *tolerated*, at the
very best. Generally, all flavors of Windows, even NT, are treated as
equally worthless, except for the fact that this is what you have to
work with.
>As for "making you update -$$" or some such nonsense. No sh** Sherlock. Ever
>heard of stock holders and bottom lines? It's a capitalist economy.
No, its a free market economy. We tolerate, even encourage, capitalism,
because it is useful for a free market economy. I can't see any other
reason to allow people who already have money to have an advantage in
making money.
>Get used
>to it. Just because MS is good at it is no reason to cry. Besides, all the
>Linux distros are just as guilty as MS when it comes to bugs. I've got core
>files galore after ANY install of ANY Linux distro. Half of the stuff just
>doesn't work. Do you hear me whining about it? No, I just accept it as part
>and parcel of the state of software today and move on.
Perhaps the massively lesser price for massively greater functionality
also might have something to do with it. And we're not even getting in
to Microsoft's criminal behavior, yet.
>I also choose to use
>the best web browsing - email - news reader software that I can use.
>Windows provides that, hands down. If I want to program, I fire up my Linux
>box. Simple really.
Windows is a great NetPC for people who don't want a NetPC, is that it?
IE/Outlook is the most sorry, misbegotten, pile of crap that has ever
seen the consumer side of the sales cycle. Fuck the monopoly.
>There really is no crime in using both, you know. I realize many in here
>have to preface that they use windows because: They have to, they're at
>work, their wife doesn't want the complexity of Linux, on an on.
We don't "have to", we do because we are left with nothing else. When
you are at the mercy of a market monopoly, all you can do is point out:
THE ONLY REASON WE USE WINDOWS IS BECAUSE WE HAVE TO. My wife doesn't
want to buck the monopoly; it has nothing to do with complexity, and
everything to do with interoperability. Which Windows only enjoys with
itself, which is the reason it is not just a monopoly, but a *dishonest*
monopoly.
> You don't
>hear me say that. I use windows because I like some of the things it
>provides me. There, easy enough to say. I don't hide that fact. I don't hide
>the fact that I use Linux either. What, I'm supposed to feel ashamed because
>I use windows?
No, but you should either feel ashamed, or feel ashamed for your
employer (or your game software developer).
>Why do so many Linux users have that attitude? What is the
>obvious inadequacy they are attempting (badly) to cover up? Life is short,
>drop the zealotry, come back to planet earth, and get something done.
It has something to do with criminal activity, stifling innovation for
more than a decade, and ripping off millions of people for billions of
dollars. Once they're gone (christ, I hate the "slow wheels of
justice"), hopefully we *will* be able to get something done.
Thanks for your time. Hope it helps.
--
T. Max Devlin
Manager of Research & Educational Services
Managed Services
ELTRAX Technology Services Group
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
-[Opinions expressed are my own; everyone else, including
my employer, has to pay for them, subject to
applicable licensing agreement]-
====== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News ======
http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
======= Over 80,000 Newsgroups = 16 Different Servers! ======
------------------------------
From: "Spud" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Why use Linux?
Date: Sun, 23 Jul 2000 21:44:42 -0700
[snips]
"Chiefy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> On Sat, 22 Jul 2000 18:49:15 -0700, Spud did say to the dudes:
> [snips
> >Again, let me reiterate; if you're doing typical _home_ use
things -
> >maintaining your 10 page web site, writing letters, doing home
accounting,
> >etc - then the occasional crash isn't a big deal; at most it's
annoying,
>
> Forgive the late interjection but I have to dive in.
>
> There is no excuse for a software induced crash.
Sure there is; the user chose an OS which wasn't designed, built or
intended to be overly resilient; they chose one instead that was less
expensive and/or supported their games and other non-critical uses.
> Not acceptable.
> Ten years ago, maybe, but not now. Linux doesn't crash.
Balls; I can crash Mandrake, consistently, every damned time, just
trying to set up the sound card on this box. You were saying?
> I can honestly say that I have not suffered a single crash in the 12
> months, that it's been in use here, and the Linux box is running for
20
> hours or so every day.
Big deal; I run Win2K here 24 hours a day; I've had two crashes; one
due to a drive failure, one due to a corrupted driver. I suspect
Linux wouldn't fare much better in those regards, so what of it?
> I think one of the biggest gripes that users of other OS's have with
MS,
> is Bill Gates' over exaggerated claims about his products. It's not
long
> since Bill was advising the world to discard their Unix/Linux
servers
> and re-equip with his stuff.
Right, you'd use Win98 as a production server platform. Uh huh. Oh,
wait, you mean maybe, just maybe, there are different versions of
Windows, usable for different purposes, and picking the right one for
the job might actually be a good idea? Ah, yes, now you're getting
it.
> MS/HotMail are currently using Apache 1.3.6 on a FreeBSD box!
>
> Why doesn't Microsoft use Microsoft software?.
Last I read, it was because of the codebase behind hotmail; it was too
*nix-centric to be readily moved to a Windows server. If so, then MS
would have to make a choice; is it financially worthwhile to port it,.
or does it make more sense to leave it as it is?
And this supports your position how, exactly? Sorry, I missed the
relevance of it.
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Donovan Rebbechi)
Crossposted-To:
misc.legal,talk.politics.misc,alt.politics.libertarian,talk.politics.libertarian
Subject: Re: Anti-Human Libertarians Oppose Microsoft Antitrust Action (was:
Microsoft Ruling Too Harsh
Date: 24 Jul 2000 04:46:18 GMT
On 23 Jul 2000 18:24:22 -0400, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>According to capitalists, the boss is the "real" producer of the
>thing that your work brings into existence. After all, the boss
>is vital because he plays golf all day, and all you do is work,
>which makes you expendable, right?
I'm not clear on what this "boss" of yours is.
If he's the CEO, his job is to maximise the company's
NPV. If he can do that just by playing golf ( hmmm ... fat chance! )
then all is well and good.
But if he fails, he loses his job faster than you can blink.
He is expendable, just like everyone else. If he screws up, he will
lose his job. Vital, yes. Above scrutiny ? Put it this way -- you're
attending a shareholders meeting and the stock has just crashed. Who
would you rather be right now, an employee or the CEO ?
He gets
paid a lot -- because he is important. You don't just hire any schmuck to
be your CEO, you hire someone who can do the job right. If he f*cks up,
the company is screwed. If a worker f*cks up, well you get a new one.
Unless all your workers are f*cking up ( BTW, if this happens, the CEO
and the managers are in very hot water ... ) you don't really have a problem.
The CEO is vital in the sense that the future on the company
depends on him. But he is also disposable, and if his performance is
substandard, he'll be fired without a second thought. On the other hand,
mediocrity from employees is often tolerated.
--
Donovan
------------------------------
From: Woofbert <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy
Subject: Re: The real faux paus of the U.S. military... (was Re: The Failure of the
USS Yorktown)
Date: Mon, 24 Jul 2000 04:48:05 GMT
In article <8lfnt8$usq$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Gary Hallock <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
> news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> > 2 + 2 wrote:
> >
> > > The first space shuttle went up with 6 redundant IBM computers
> > > that were several generations outdated, due to government
> > > contracting leadtimes.
> > >
> > > An astronaut had a laptop with him that was immensely superior to
> > > the IBM computers.
> > >
> >
> > Are you sure about that? The first shuttle was launched in April
> > 1981. Did laptops exist back then?
>
> Yes, they did exist in a fashion but they were not yet called
> laptops. There were programmable calculators and some small hybrid
> programmable calculators. Their useability were quite limited
> compared to a full 8-bit computer of the day. Kaypro was making a
> full capability CP/M suit case computers.
Don't forget the Osborne One, which is what Adam Kay copied his design
from. :-)
>The closest match to a
> laptop was the notbooks computers on those days; like the TRS-80
> Model 100. Epson was making a notebook comptuer also, but I can't
> remember if it dated from before the first launch. It was a couple
> of years yet before the first real laptops were available.
>
> Of course all this has nothing to do with the space shuttle's first
> launch, since on the original launch there was no mission that needed
> any data processing support.
Eh? ::Boggle:: I guess, if you don't call navigation a task that needs
data processing support.
(Some college buddies and I drove all the way from Knoxville to Cape
Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center to watch the first launch of the
Columbia.)
Do you remember why the launch, originally scheduled for a Friday, was
delayed until Sunday? The three primary onboard guidance computers
didn't synchronize with each other properly, so they scrubbed the
launch. It took them the rest of the day to empty the fuel tank, and all
of Saturday to fill it again for a Sunday morning launch. By then, the
computer guys figured out that they could just have turned the computers
off and on again, and they would have synchronized fine. People's lives
depended on those computers ... they don't screw around.
(None of us had any exams on Monday or Tuesday, so we decided to stay.
We had already planned *not* to drive to Edwards AFB to watch the
landing: we'd never get there in time. Instead, we went home and watched
it on TV. :-)
So what would happen if all three of those computers barfed before they
had to land? They'd go to a pair of backup computers. And if they
barfed? The pilot had an HP-41C programmable calculator in his breat
pocket. It was loaded with a single program, whcih would allow him to do
the stellar navigation required for him to return from orbit to a
landing at Edwards AFB. That calculator was not intended for any other
use. People's lives depended on those computers ... they don't screw
around.
> The purpose of the first launch was a
> go live test of the shuttle to see if it could reach LEO, orbit a few
> times and land without problems.
Once they got the computers working, they did fine.
--
Woofbert <woofbert at infernosoft dot com>, Datadroid
Infernosoft: Putting the No in Innovation. http://www.infernosoft.com
Consider God's handiwork: for who can make straight
that which He hath made crooked?" Ecclesiastes 7:13
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