On Wed, 24 Jun 1998, Shawn McMahon wrote:
> Ironically, the necessary final nail in this coffin is being placed
> there by Microsoft and Intel; the PC 99 spec doesn't allow ISA slots.
> Certain internal devices are allowed to continue to use the ISA bus.
Well, Microsoft and Intel don't have anything to gain by continuing the
defective traditions. I think they've come to realize that backward
compatibility isn't quite the holy grail they thought it was. :)
> "Easy to install on Linux" does not necessarily equate to "easy to install
> on Red Hat Linux 5.x".
Sure it does. Red Hat 5 is one of the most popular versions of linux.
When you produce a program for Linux, you should test it on every commonly
used version of Linux out there, including RedHat, Debian, Caldera,
Slackware, SuSE, and maybe others too. It's still easier than testing it
on even the common Windows configurations. And it helps find bugs in your
code (like with Netscape). It would be best if they would distribute .RPM
and .DEB and whatever files for their software. The problem with
installing software is always libraries, libraries, libraries. It happens
on Unix all the time, but Linux more than most. I can download software
and type "make solaris" and have a finished product come out the other
end. That's because there is a more-or-less universal set of libraries.
Linux doesn't have that and doesn't even have anything close to it.
Linux changes libraries more than most of the developers change their
underwear.
The rapid change of the libraries (and the kernel, and...) is what makes
Linux able to go from nothing to one of the best OS's available in just a
few years. You cannot expect distributions to maintain old library
compatibility. I still download software that says "You need a recent
kernel to run this - 0.99p14 works for me".
When RH5 first came out, with the new glibc, etc., it's excusable if
nothing works. But not a year later. The application developers need to
keep pace.
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