NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #31/NN_1992_31.iso/spool/comp/os/linux/22334

Text File | 1992-12-31 | 2.7 KB | 58 lines

Newsgroups: comp.os.linux
Path: sparky!uunet!nwnexus!ole!ssc!fyl
From: [e-mail] (Phil Hughes)
Subject: Re: Question and Observations
Organization: SSC, Inc.,  Seattle, WA
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1992 18:16:56 GMT
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
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Let me jump onto the "job well done" bandwagon.  In 1970 I worked for
Computer Sciences Corporation in a group testing their new CSTS operating
system.  For an idea of the size of the project, I would see it as similar
in size to UNIX Version 7, maybe a little larger.

There were 5 people in the integration group that installed changes to the
system and 20 in the testing group.  CSC spent over $50 million in getting
the system running.  The system was written to offer a new platform for
the timeshare services that CSC offered.  Thus, the $50 million was
development dollars, not marketing dollars.


That said, I want to say that I see Linux as an amazing cooperative effort.
If someone suggested such an effort I couldn't imagine it would work.
After all, how could someone get hundreds of people, scattered around the
world with different experience, expectations and computer systems to
cooperatively develop such a huge project?

This is happening because people are interested and electing to do what
they want.  The motivation may not all be the same (some people want to
learn, some want glory, some just want to help others, ...) but the end
goal is the same -- a system called Linux.

Peter's work on SLS is probably the easiest one to pick on.  After all, he
isn't "the inventor" and, by virtue of what he is doing, he will always be
behind.  If you want to make sure SLS works, offer to test new code before
it appears in SLS.  Or offer to maintain a piece of SLS.  It's a big job.

I don't want to dimish the efforts of others.  If Linux is to become a
stable, portable system everyone's effort counts.  If someone with little
experience helps another person with what some of us would consider a
simple bug that is one more happy Linux user and one less simple bug that
people with more experience needs to deal with.  This is how we can make
the Linux community grow.

I look forward to 1994 when Linux will be a viable alternative to most
commercial multi-user operating systems, 1996 when commercial software
vendors will port their products to Linux and 2000 when Linux will be THE
multi-user operating system.  With cooperation this could happen.

Thanks to all and Happy New Year.
--
Phil Hughes, SSC, Inc. P.O. Box 55549, Seattle, WA 98155  (206)FOR-UNIX
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