[Old 1997 story] The Greatest OS That (N)ever Was

Linux@lemmy.ml – 54 points – 11 months ago

How does this coverage hold up? It was a fun read from back in my highschool days, when I was still five years from trying Linux on my own AMD Thunderbird 1Ghz. It wasn't until 2008 that I tried again and it stuck.

Edit: my below comment was actually wrong. They actually do use git.

Thanks for sharing. What I find most interesting is that Linus is still using the same email-based software development methods for the kernel while the rest of the software engineering world has evolved to use his other invention, git, for that. I’m kind of second-hand embarrassed for those geniuses who have yet to adopt proper version control for (what I’d argue is) the most important project in the computing world.

Here’s a far more nuanced explanation from Spore’s reply to this comment :

Git and Email are not mutually exclusive. In order to collaborate with git, you need and only need a way to send your commits to others. Commits can be formatted as plain-text files and sent through emails. That is how git has been used by its author from literally the first release of it.

Honestly I'm surprised that so many people don't know how git can be used without those repository hosting sites. That's one way to use it, not the only way. And it's not even the way it was originally designed for.

Checkout git format-patch.

I, for one, was quite ignorant of that fact.

I'm not so surprised anymore. I'm self-taught using open-source software projects for guidance. But not everyone learns like that. For example in the commercial software dev world, having patches easy to apply with minimum tooling isn't usually a priority (for better or worse).

This is actually a little story I had half written down; your comment prompted me to finish it. Thanks! https://www.srcbeat.com/2023/11/git-email/

What? Linux does use git for version control.

Is this article (and the many sources I see confirming it) inaccurate then?

https://www.theregister.com/AMP/2020/08/25/linux_kernel_email/

I’m happy to be wrong if you have any evidence to refute what I’ve written.

Ps. I’m talking about the kernel.

Git and Email are not mutually exclusive. In order to collaborate with git, you need and only need a way to send your commits to others. Commits can be formatted as plain-text files and sent through emails. That is how git has been used by its author from literally the first release of it.

Thanks for the insight. I’ll edit my comment to point to yours.

Could you explain? I'm still stuck with a mind-block, can't imagine how a git server can track changes to code with messages from email

A git server don't need to know email to work, and it is not required to have a git server. Email in this workflow is an alternative to a PR: contributor submit a set of commits to the maintainer (or anyone interested). Then the maintainer is free to apply or merge the commits. After that the code can be pushed to any servers.

Ah, you mean email being used as a direct alternative to issue reports? I get it now, and TBH this makes intuitive sense. Thanks

Yeah, that's not quite right. You need a means to discuss things and review code. You can do this via a website or mailing list. The Linux kernel uses the latter. Lots of other devs use the former. Like Github. And Github and Git aren't the same. The issue tracking, discussion platform etc are something Github does on top of Git. You can as well use Email or a different service/online platform for the communication. The actual program code is stored in Git in both cases.

You know that git is also Linus' project, right?

Wh were you downvoted? You are correct.

Git was originally authored by Linus Torvalds in 2005 for development of the Linux kernel, with other kernel developers contributing to its initial development. Since 2005, Junio Hamano has been the core maintainer.

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I honestly thought this was going to be about os2

I was expecting Copland (what would have been Mac OS 8, had the project survived).

Gosh my dad ran that in the early 90s. Was that Linux? He was then and still is a Microsoft person.

I think it was an IBM/MS OS. Forget if it was desktop, server or "other" though.

Edit: that's right, it was IBM hoping to privatize the OS on a hard-to-clone PC (PS/2) when they saw their market share eroding quickly. https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/11/half-an-operating-system-the-triumph-and-tragedy-of-os2/

Wow, big memory trip! It was os/2 warp, I saw that package and knew it!

Dad worked for IBM in the 70s, no surprise. I also remember him having an OS box with a penguin on it but I don't believe he ever installed it. ~95ish.

You’ve read your last complementary article this month. The second Library of Alexandria doesn’t burn down, it gets locked behind a paywall.

Whatever the actual numbers, it is not unrealistic that Linux will emerge as the second operating system after Windows, especially given Apple's currently confusing sense of direction.

curious for a 27 year old article how accurate it turned to be (androidOS notwithstanding). Windows seems to still be the "2,000-pound gorilla" but there are other options available these days...

Windows has lost a ton of market share, unfortunately it gave much of that market share to MacOS

This is funny because 2008 is also when I got stuck on it. Interesting read, thanks for sharing!