[Oberon] Re. Install your own OS

[easlab at absamail.co.za]

Douglas G. Danforth wrote:
> "Dell began offering a new desktop Dimension E510n PC this week with no 
> operating system installed. The machine is designed for people who want 
> to run open-source software such as Linux instead of Windows. The PC 
> comes with a blank hard drive and a copy of the FreeDOS operating 
> system, which can be installed by customers."

I've been waiting for this for a long time.
So Dell thinks they can afford to snub M$ ?
Or actually it's a double bluff: like M$ buying shares in Apple ?

Related to this, I'm amazed at MIT [perhaps the most prestigious
(?sp=help Soren) tech-institute in the world] anouncing its $100 
laptop for all the school-kids in China and the rest of the 3rd world.

Absurdly they write about a 500Mb AMD & 1GB !
IMO the Indian simputer is more on target, being ARM-based
[linux of course] the "user's " lack of mains power is acknowledged.

I hope Oberon-S3's knowhow for ARM is not lost.
--------------------

Of course ethz's aim must be research: moving ahead &
screw maintenace of the existing.  So we collaborators 
who have joined the mutually beneficial ethz initiated
open forum must realise that WE must do our own maintenace.

Unfortunately maintenace is very uninspiring.

Here's a sample triviality:
  SmartDir.Directory SYS:*pop*  \r2
doesn't find that important file which I was working with,
before I had to re-boot [not bad after 10 days] because of
the dialer-ppp bug.  [ I guess an accumalation of 'unsafe
traps' (perhaps messes the heap ?) ].

  SmartDir.Directory SYS:pop*  \r2
finds:
pop.absamail.co.za 
pop.absamail.co.za.Bak 

as does: System.Directory SYS:*pop*

So SmartDir.Mod needs some attention ?

 A serious OS must be a living entity, with maintenance 
facilities throughout its life ?

BTW I still claim that text-search is the most important
facility for IT.  Pity I missed the google share offer, living in
a 3rd world country where increasingly they can't even keep
the traffic lights working !

== Chris Glur.