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Date: Sun, 20 Jul 1997 08:03:09 -0400 From: Robert Hettinga <rah@shipwright.com> Subject: Re: Will Monolithic Apps Dominate?
I'm beginning to think that until it's possible for a given processor to autonomously buy the software it needs for cash in an auction market, and then download and install that software, all at run time, the superscalibility of an environment where software is dispersed through the network (again, "surfacted" is not a bad word to describe this), and run in the smallest possible bits at the processor level just won't happen.
Nonetheless, I do think that the linux gang is going in the right direction, especially since most most of the cash-settlement technology we on this list have all come to know and love is more likely to be used in linux than anywhere else.
You should look into Plan 9 with purchasing extensions to its job-processor scheduling scheme. This would allow several interesting features: - anonymous execution of jobs The person scheduling the job would have no idea exactly where the job was running, only that it was at the time the least expensive alternative available. - anonymous processor selection The person owning the machine would not know where all the processes currently running come from since it would not be possible to turn the execution key into an actual machine address. - automatic and anonymous software selection Jobs don't need to have the required software or even where it might be located. The job would need to understand the catalog scheme in place to locate the software (think of a library card system). Since the OS already bids for processor space it would not require a major architecture mod to include E$/crypto functions.
Finally, there's the issue of Mhyrvold's software-as-a-gas idea. That is, that bloatware is a direct result of Moore's Law.
I have to disagree. Bloatware comes from the way we look at software (ie generalize & modularize it) and the way we impliment it (ie libraries). While it makes the programmers job easier it makes the amount of software required for the job larger that required because the libraries have functions and features that aren't used (in this product). Bloatware won't be fixed unless we (ugh) go back to monolithic project design with most code custom built with little re-use from previous versions. I suspect it is easier to buy another 4M of RAM than to pay the programmers to re-create the wheel each time a new version comes out. ____________________________________________________________________ | | | _____ The Armadillo Group | | ,::////;::-. Austin, Tx. USA | | /:'///// ``::>/|/ http:// www.ssz.com/ | | .', |||| `/( e\ | | -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- Jim Choate | | ravage@ssz.com | | 512-451-7087 | |____________________________________________________________________|