Eagle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > So, what are you guys trying to accomplish, exactly?
I was under the impression that we were trying to share files, in a convenient manner, between System 6 and OS X. System 6 doesn't include personal file sharing, and OS X is too snobbish to act as a server for System 6 clients. > With a new enough AppleShare client, System 7 can still talk to Panther > AppleShare server. The last time I checked, this wasn't the System 6+1 list. ;-) > Well, we're talking about networking things that are more than 15 years > apart in age. In computer time, that's more than one generation. > Apple has done an incredible job of keeping compatibility with older > hardware and software, but eventually the cord must be cut -- as it was > with Panther only running on New World machines, for example. Well, there are at least many levels of support to consider here, but we are mostly concerned with interoperability here. You should expect machines to be interoperable over a span of decades, not years, if you want to be taken seriously. It isn't an unrealistic expectation either. For example: you can use TCP/IP to connect the most modern machine to some prehistoric ones. Why wasn't AppleShare more robust? In fact, you should be able to use System 6 clients with a netatalk server (on a Linux box). Why should you expect that level of support? Well, there are a number of reasons why businesses would need it: they may be using some custom software, or they may be unable to justify the cost of upgrading a particular computer (say their fax servers). But we should all be familiar with a more mundane example: sometimes applications break under new versions of the operating system, and it is difficult to find suitable replacements. Besides, why should computers be so different from consumer electronics of the past? I seem to recall buying televisions and stereos which lasted well over a decade (sans repairs), and the interface between components hasn't changed radically either. I mean, my family has had television cable for about twenty years. Heck, free broadcast is still available. But somehow marketeers can introduce the word "digital" into a product and it is obsolete and must be replaced the day it is shipped. I was listening to the radio the other day and classic Macs were described as "useless" and as "boat anchors". Well, if they are so bloody useless, why did people buy them in the first place? The simple fact of the matter is that we are conditioned to believe that things need to be replaced soon after they are declared obsolete, and that dumping support for last year's product because of that is okay. Well, it isn't okay and we should expect more. Note: I'm not saying that there are no or few benefits to OS X or XP or whatever. People who do things like video production clearly need much more powerful computers, and I don't want to deprive them of that. In a similar vein, if an old computer serves my needs I believe that other people should show the same respect for my decision as I show for theirs. Among other things, that means that my hardward should not become artificially obsolete. For example: even when using 68k Macs, I'm often "forced" to use System 7.x (horror of horrors!) because certain types of software aren't very common in the System 6 world. Among other things, there isn't a *functional* System 6 web browsers and I'm not aware of a System 6 SSH client. But the leap from System 6 to 7.1 isn't as large as the one from 7.1 to OS X, so I bear with it. But things get quite ugly (IMHO) by the time you hit 7.1 Pro/7.5 and are barely barable by Mac OS 9.2.2. As for NeXT OS X, I literally use it for two programs: Safari and Preview. I need it to be "interoperable" with the outside world. Virtually all of my other software is System 6/7 era, so there is literally no reason to have this fancy hardware except planned obsolescence. Byron. Byron. -- System6 is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... 123Inkjets.com <http://lowendmac.com/ad/123inkjets.html> Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> System 6 Heaven <http://www.euronet.nl/users/mvdk/system_6_heaven.html> System6 info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/system6.html> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/system6%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
