Re. [Oberon] PC Makers Hit Speed Bumps - Oberon opportunity

[Antony Tersol]

C had some initial success because it was the language in which Unix was 
written.  In the late '70s, Unix was given away by AT&T to universities, 
where it enjoyed popularity in computer science departments.  If one 
wanted to understand Unix, one had to learn C.  Remember, this was when 
systems were moving from batch-processed punch-cards to time-sharing 
terminals.

At the time, AT&T was a regulated telephone company, and was not able to 
sell computers or operating systems.  It was shortly thereafter that the 
consent decree split AT&T and also removed the restrictions.  Some have 
speculated that AT&T was looking forward to that day by seeding the 
market with C and Unix expertise.  When people graduated and entered the 
workplace they would continue with what they knew.  (The Feds proposed 
"punishment" for Microsoft includes giving away product to schools. 
Apple has long had a policy of generous discounts for education.)

This was also the time of Apple II computers and UCSD Pascal.  After the 
PC first came out, the trade press carried articles about the OS that 
would replace MS-DOS.  At that time, the leading candidates were 
considered to be Unix and the UCSD p-system.

Now, 25 years later, Linux's small success is built on that early 
seeding.  Unix and MS-Dos grew as the computer industry transitioned 
from main frames to PCs.  Today, the transition is starting from PCs to 
embedded devices.  Other OSs will gain ascendency, but technical 
excellence is not the only factor.

Antony Tersol

> Date: Sun, 06 Oct 2002 20:36:06 -0400
> From: "Douglas G. Danforth" <danforth at greenwoodfarm.com>
> Organization: Greenwood Farm Technologies LLC
> To: oberon at inf.ethz.ch
> Subject: Re: Re. [Oberon] PC Makers Hit Speed Bumps - Oberon opportunity
> Reply-To: oberon at inf.ethz.ch
> 
> Linux is a collaborative effort that built on an existing
> unix base (e.g. SUN OS, IBM AIX, ...).  Oberon did not and does 
> not have that base.
> 
> I must admit that I do not understand why the (seemingly) inferior
> almost always wins out. 
> 
> If the C language had been developed somewhere other than Bell Labs 
> would it have suceeded?  Politics and momentum frequently overpower quality.  
> One needs a very strong advocate who is willing to weather the storm to
> bring forth what should be "as simple as possible".
> 
> -Doug
>