At 4:31 PM 7/20/95, Ray Cromwell wrote:
I wouldn't be surprised if in 5-10 years, your operating system basically looks like a cross between Netscape, OpenDoc, and HotJava. The "browser" would be ubiquituous, and local/LAN/WAN data would be treated transparently.
This is precisely my view, although I try to call it an "operating environment," so as to get away from quibbling about what is and what is not a real OS. There were reasons why some folks like to do as much work as they could in an integrated environment like Emacs, regardless of the underlying OS flavor. Many folk still do, and they read News, send mail, etc., all from within Emacs. Same idea with Netscape...albeit with a different focus. And my guess, based on lots of indications, is that about a thousand times as many people will soon be doing this with Netscape as with Emacs, or elm, or pine, etc. Ray's comments about OpenDoc, HotJava, and other object-oriented tools fit this picture, I think. I am sorry that some folks heavily committed to the Linux route, or to Emacs, or to GNU/FSF, or to other approaches feel that their work is technically superior and deserves to be as popular as Netscape and simiar approaches, but reality is reality. (And I could be wrong on the way things will unfold. All I'm saying is that technology is a moving target, that plans have to change, and that ease of use will likely win out over technical sophistication. Folks who think the stronger technology will inevitably win should pick up a copy of a 15-year-old book called "The Soul of a New Machine," by Tracy Kidder.) .......................................................................... Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@sensemedia.net | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero 408-728-0152 | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Corralitos, CA | black markets, collapse of governments. Higher Power: 2^756839 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available. "National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."