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Date:      Tue, 23 Nov 1999 01:05:04 +0000 (GMT)
From:      Terry Lambert <tlambert@primenet.com>
To:        davids@webmaster.com (David Schwartz)
Cc:        tlambert@primenet.com, chat@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: Judge: "Gates Was Main Culprit"
Message-ID:  <199911230105.SAA03973@usr02.primenet.com>
In-Reply-To: <000101bf354a$038b0e00$021d85d1@youwant.to> from "David Schwartz" at Nov 22, 99 04:30:59 pm

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> > I don't understand how I am no longer locked into supporting ISA
> > device probes, so long as there is an ISA bus in the machines on
> > which my OS runs.  I either support the hardware (all of it), or
> > I don't support the hardware.
> 
> Huh? If you don't think the ISA bus gives you advantages that
> outweight the costs of supporting it, don't. You aren't locked in!

The only advantage it gives is a marketing checkbox relative
to Microsoft OSs.  One that would not need to be there, if
Microsoft didn't support it.


> > How do I avoid suffering the disadvantages of carrying around this
> > legacy code and paying the penalty at boot time?
> 
> 	You don't do it.

I can't do that, so long as Microsoft support it.


> > The answer is that, so long as there is an ISA bus in my machine,
> > I will be paying for it.
> 
> Bullshit. This is a clear case of why we don't get locked in.

I don't understand this statement; when I buy a PC, do I not pay
for the ISA card edge connectors and copper cladding on the PC
board, as well as the resin that makes up the board?

If you can tell me how I can aboid that (point me to a vendor of
competitively priced machines which omit the bus, please!), then
let me know.


> The only way to avoid that would be to not have promoted ISA in
> the first place.

So, promoting ISA is what locked us in?


> > No.  It is a case of being locked into supplying ISA slots.
> 
> Huh? Who is locked in? Motherboard manufacturers? No, they aren't
> locked in, the choose to add these slots because they believe the
> value of the compatability outweighs the cost of compatability.
> As soon as those balances change, they'll drop ISA slots.

I don't believe this, but even if I did, how does that save
me, as an OS vendor, from having to support ISA?


> > As a matter of fact, one thing that Microsoft could do with
> > its monopoly that would be a real benefit is to stop supporting
> > ISA in its OS.
> 
> I still use ISA. Though mostly on my UNIX boxes. I still keep a
> lot of 'obsolete' hardware useful that way.
> 
> Many of my Linux servers still have ISA video cards. One of my
> machines has a motherboard with serial ports that don't work --
> it has an ISA serial port card in it. One of my FreeBSD servers
> doesn't even have any PCI slots.
> 
> Of course, I may wind up suffering for trying to stay in the
> trailing edge.


Or dragging the rest of us down with you...


					Terry Lambert
					terry@lambert.org
---
Any opinions in this posting are my own and not those of my present
or previous employers.


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