Re: Code donations for RPGUI initiative

[Thorbjoern Ravn Andersen <ravn@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Dr. Syd Nicholson skrev:
> If everything can run on a single platform (Intel) then we don't need IBM -
> they cease to be a hardware company. All the research into new technology -
> is it going to have a market?? Similarly, we don't need HP or Sun or any of
> the other platform manufacturers, the only thing we need are companies that
> manufacture Intel boxes.
>   
Software can run on many platforms if written correctly.  Java attests 
to that, but it also demonstrates that the AS/400 platform was designed 
for something else.

The difference in computers are very similar to the difference in 
cars[1].  There is a vast different between a dragster and a semi truck 
even though the both are cars.  Intel CPU's have reached a point where 
the bottleneck is getting data to and from memory (hence the dragster) 
as opposed to systems where the important thing is moving data around.   
Using x86's for everything just makes cheap dragsters.

There is, however, a vast advantage in using a portable language, since 
it makes it much easier to choose the appropriate vehicle for a given 
task.    This is probably also why most vehicles are controlled very 
similar - makes it possible to reuse the drivers elsewhere :)

I believe the hardware merging on the POWER platform is probably the 
best thing that could happen there, since it makes it cheaper (which is 
the x86 advantage) and allows concentrating on the software.

</soapbox>




[1] Car analogies are nice :)