3 ms·

I think there is a gap here between those who routinely (exclusively?) used UNIX machines along with 50, 100, 1000 other people all logged in at once (generally

I think there is a gap here between those who routinely (exclusively?) used UNIX machines along with 50, 100, 1000 other people all logged in at once (generally pre-Linux era) and those who only ever got to see and enjoy a time when everyone could have a UNIX workstation on their desktop (Linux, Mac, or other x86 flavour, take your pick).

hedora 3y ago
Back in the shared era, the machines were better-suited to individual customization, and were more easily understood by system administrators. Now, they're optimized too... waste more computational resources when idle?
wpietri 3y ago
Yeah, I really feel like we're in a "horseless carriage" or "radio with pictures" era for computing. We have incredibly powerful machines available. But the dominant paradigm for managing that power is to slice it up into things that simulate much less powerful processors in software environments designed for a shared 1970s university department minicomputer. In many ways I love it, of course. It's what I grew up on, and I'm sure I'll have a small Linux cluster in the retirement home, because that's how computers are "supposed to be". But I think the old paradigm has only lasted so long because we have so much computing power to burn.
- jaystraw 3y ago
  I'm not sure I understand. When the "old paradigm" was new, computing power was much more limited. They couldn't afford to "burn" any computing power. But it's only stuck around, because now we have more computing power? That doesn't make sense
  - wpietri 3y ago
    You might read some Kuhn. Paradigms change when the old one becomes unsupportable. But the vast increase in computing power per dollar means we can waste a lot of it without it being economically uncomfortable. Well, most of us. A good check on this is a podcast where Dr Kevin Bowers is interviewed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlzWM5GKQT8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlzWM5GKQT8 He works for a financial trading firm, where the competitive nature of it means that every processor cycle counts. For him, older paradigms are perplexing and irritating, because they are major barriers to getting the most out of the hardware.

hedora 3y ago

Back in the shared era, the machines were better-suited to individual customization, and were more easily understood by system administrators. Now, they're optimized too... waste more computational resources when idle?

wpietri 3y ago

Yeah, I really feel like we're in a "horseless carriage" or "radio with pictures" era for computing. We have incredibly powerful machines available. But the dominant paradigm for managing that power is to slice it up into things that simulate much less powerful processors in software environments designed for a shared 1970s university department minicomputer. In many ways I love it, of course. It's what I grew up on, and I'm sure I'll have a small Linux cluster in the retirement home, because that's how computers are "supposed to be". But I think the old paradigm has only lasted so long because we have so much computing power to burn.

jaystraw 3y ago
I'm not sure I understand. When the "old paradigm" was new, computing power was much more limited. They couldn't afford to "burn" any computing power. But it's only stuck around, because now we have more computing power? That doesn't make sense
- wpietri 3y ago
  You might read some Kuhn. Paradigms change when the old one becomes unsupportable. But the vast increase in computing power per dollar means we can waste a lot of it without it being economically uncomfortable. Well, most of us. A good check on this is a podcast where Dr Kevin Bowers is interviewed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlzWM5GKQT8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlzWM5GKQT8 He works for a financial trading firm, where the competitive nature of it means that every processor cycle counts. For him, older paradigms are perplexing and irritating, because they are major barriers to getting the most out of the hardware.