From: steve@hacker.UUCP (Stephen M. Youndt) Subject: Re: GNU kids on the block? (sorry... couldn't resist) Date: Sat, 29 Aug 1992 11:50:34 GMT
In article keller@cse.ucsc.edu (Jeffrey Keller) writes:
>In article davidsen@crd.ge.com (bill davidsen) writes:
>> Don't take this as a rejection of multi-server by me, I'm unconvinced
>>rather than convinced against. Sort of a software agnostic.
>
>By the way, I also have mixed feelings about microkernels. On the one
>hand, I don't believe they can ever be as efficient as macrokernels;
>on the other, (despite what Larry McVoy says) I believe that further
>evolution of OSes is essential and that microkernels can foster that.
>I also think that it might be easier to make a microkernel secure,
>but I'm not at all sure of it.
I don't care one way or the other whether my kernel is "micro" or "macro",
but I feel very strongly about one thing that Mach/HURD are going towards
(according to rumors :-), and that's reloadable device drivers. I've
become very used to this in VMS (although not all VMS drivers are
compliant). When I was first introduced to UNIX, I was appalled at the
idea of relinking the kernel every time I added a new device. Interestingly
enough, this kind of feature isn't particularly more difficult in a "macro"
kernel as opposed to a "micro" kernel. It just seems that the micro kernel
people are the only ones doing it (for Unix anyway; VMS can hardly be
considered a micro kernel). Well, that's my $.02 worth.
Later
Steve
-- Stephen M. Youndt UUCP: uunet!hacker!steve I-NET: steve%hacker@uunet.uu.net ============================================================================= 10201 Chase Commons Drive #106 * Burke, VA 22015 * Phone: (703)978-6352