[6490] in Perl-Users-Digest
Perl-Users Digest, Issue: 115 Volume: 8
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Perl-Users Digest)
Fri Mar 14 02:07:35 1997
Date: Thu, 13 Mar 97 23:00:18 -0800
From: Perl-Users Digest <Perl-Users-Request@ruby.OCE.ORST.EDU>
To: Perl-Users@ruby.OCE.ORST.EDU (Perl-Users Digest)
Perl-Users Digest Thu, 13 Mar 1997 Volume: 8 Number: 115
Today's topics:
Re: [Q] Redirection for an inline gif <tchrist@mox.perl.com>
Re: CGI & sendmail <tchrist@mox.perl.com>
Re: Elegant way to strip spaces off the ^ and $ of a va (Abigail)
Re: Hiding path name during download (Tad McClellan)
Re: Hiding path name during download <tchrist@mox.perl.com>
Re: I'm scared and don't know what to do. Do you know?? <hanklem@ibm.net>
Re: Integers (Eric Palmer)
Re: Open file works under DOS, not under server <hanklem@ibm.net>
Re: Perl Browser (Nathan V. Patwardhan)
Re: Perl Browser (Orbby S. Arka)
Re: random perl core dumps with obscure message <tchrist@mox.perl.com>
Re: random perl core dumps with obscure message (Ilya Zakharevich)
Using a URL as input to a Perl script <jasonm@primenet.com>
Re: What's a good Perl book? <hanklem@ibm.net>
Re: Who makes more $$ - Windows vs. Unix programmers? <jschwartz0010@ameritech.net>
Re: Who makes more $$ - Windows vs. Unix programmers? (Morbius)
Re: Who makes more $$ - Windows vs. Unix programmers? <carla@ici.net>
Digest Administrivia (Last modified: 8 Mar 97) (Perl-Users-Digest Admin)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 14 Mar 1997 05:06:54 GMT
From: Tom Christiansen <tchrist@mox.perl.com>
Subject: Re: [Q] Redirection for an inline gif
Message-Id: <5gamde$j09$4@csnews.cs.colorado.edu>
[courtesy cc of this posting sent to cited author via email]
In comp.lang.perl.misc,
jon@atwww.com.au writes:
:Here's my dilemma - I've got a gif on another server that I want to log
:hits to on my server, so rather than sifting through the log files and
:manually adding hits to it I thought I'd be able to create a simple cgi
:script that calls the gif and then the hits on the cgi file would be all
:I needed.
Why didn't you post this to comp.infosystems.www.authoring.cgi
instead? It would seem more appropriate to that group than
this one.
--tom
--
Tom Christiansen tchrist@jhereg.perl.com
X-Windows: It could be worse, but it'll take time.
--Jamie Zawinski
------------------------------
Date: 14 Mar 1997 05:12:56 GMT
From: Tom Christiansen <tchrist@mox.perl.com>
Subject: Re: CGI & sendmail
Message-Id: <5gamoo$j09$5@csnews.cs.colorado.edu>
[courtesy cc of this posting sent to cited author via email]
In comp.infosystems.www.authoring.cgi,
Alain.Deckers@man.ac.uk writes:
:You want to check the return code:
:open MAIL, "| $sendmail" or die "Couldn't fork: $!\n";
Although this is not really a great deal of help in most
cases. You'll catch the failed fork, but not a failed
exec. See the FAQ entry about this.
:Also make sure you set the right flags for sendmail.
Indeed: "sendmail -oi -t -odq" are probably good. The -odq
will save your machine a lot of headaches.
--tom
--
Tom Christiansen tchrist@jhereg.perl.com
Drive defensively. Buy a tank.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 1997 05:01:53 GMT
From: abigail@ny.fnx.com (Abigail)
Subject: Re: Elegant way to strip spaces off the ^ and $ of a variable containing a sentence.
Message-Id: <E70on5.BJr@nonexistent.com>
On 13 Mar 1997 14:19:09 -0700, Randal Schwartz wrote in comp.lang.perl.misc:
++ >>>>> "Abigail" == Abigail <abigail@ny.fnx.com> writes:
++
++ Abigail> Elegant you said... Here's a way without using ()'s in the
++ Abigail> regex, or having to type the variable twice. And it's easy to
++ Abigail> add more variables.
++
++ Abigail> map {s/^\s+//; s/\s+$//;} $variable;
++
++ No, abigail! Void use of map invalidates your Perl wizard's license!
++
++ for ($variable,$v2,$v3,$v4) { s/^\s+//; s/\s+$//; }
++
Why? What's the big deal about maps? There are many functions which
mostly get used for their side effects, like print, s///, sleep, and of
course assignment.
And why set $_ to the element of the array in stead of a copy if we
aren't supposed to use the side effects?
Abigail -- Do I need to remove a + after the P in my geek code
now my wizard's license has been invalidated?
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 13 Mar 1997 22:41:14 -0600
From: tadmc@flash.net (Tad McClellan)
Subject: Re: Hiding path name during download
Message-Id: <atkag5.b41.ln@localhost>
Roy (boylesr@mail.mcm.edu) wrote:
: I'm hoping someone here can help me with this problem. First off, I am in
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Folks here help with Perl problems.
Folks somewhere else help with CGI problems.
: the learning stages of Perl. I am running on an NT 4.0 server with Web
^^^^^^
Perl doesn't have a server...
: Commander. I have installed Perl for Win32. Basically, I have a form
^^^^^^
Perl doesn't have any data structure named form...
: where certain information is required to be able to download files. After
: the input data has been entered, I pass the filename to download to a
: script and I want to be able to automatically start the download WITHOUT
: showing the path information during the download.
: I have tried:
: print "Location: /path/path/filename\n\n";
: It always starts a download, but that always returns the full path in the
: browser. I don't want that!
^^^^^^^
Perl doesn't have a browser...
: I have tried:
: print "Content-type: application/zip\n\n";
: That starts a download too, but it starts a download of the 'script file'
: that issued that command. I don't want that either!
: I have read through all the documentation I can find on the Web but have
: come up with a blank.
: Am I missing something here??
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Yes. You are not posting your CGI question to the CGI newsgroup.
: Are there some
: parameters I can pass to the "Content-Type:..." statement or some other way
: to do this?
Perl doesn't have a Content-Type "statement" either...
: Feel free to reply here or to my e-mail address below.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Or, maybe, to an *on* topic newsgroup
such as comp.infosystems.www.authoring.cgi?
The only perl issue you have mentioned is how to print a string.
You're not having a problem with that, are you?
[
Sorry for getting testy, but I don't see _any_ perl issues related
to your question...
]
--
Tad McClellan SGML Consulting
Tag And Document Consulting Perl programming
tadmc@flash.net
------------------------------
Date: 14 Mar 1997 05:03:02 GMT
From: Tom Christiansen <tchrist@mox.perl.com>
Subject: Re: Hiding path name during download
Message-Id: <5gam66$j09$3@csnews.cs.colorado.edu>
[courtesy cc of this posting sent to cited author via email]
In comp.lang.perl.misc,
"Roy" <boylesr@mail.mcm.edu> writes:
:I'm hoping someone here can help me with this problem. First off, I am in
:the learning stages of Perl. I am running on an NT 4.0 server with Web
:Commander. I have installed Perl for Win32. Basically, I have a form
:where certain information is required to be able to download files. After
:the input data has been entered, I pass the filename to download to a
:script and I want to be able to automatically start the download WITHOUT
:showing the path information during the download.
:
:I have tried:
:print "Location: /path/path/filename\n\n";
:It always starts a download, but that always returns the full path in the
:browser. I don't want that!
You may have to use an NPH script so you can specify the
full headers, including the URI field.
This has absolutely zilcho to do with perl. Check out
comp.infosystems.www.authoring.cgi for better answers.
--tom
--
Tom Christiansen tchrist@jhereg.perl.com
/* This is the one truly awful dwimmer necessary to conflate C and sed. */
--Larry Wall, from toke.c in the v5.0 perl distribution
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 13 Mar 1997 22:27:21 -0700
From: Hank LeMieux <hanklem@ibm.net>
To: Tom Holder <Tom@intermart.co.uk>
Subject: Re: I'm scared and don't know what to do. Do you know??
Message-Id: <3328E1B9.40EB@ibm.net>
Tom,
Get a hold of yourself, stud. You can do this, but it certainly won't
be easy (is anything worth doing easy?).
You CAN learn to do this in perl in 8 weeks. Trust me, I've basically
done it. But you'll have to really knuckle down and focus.
There is a better alternative you should consider, though. You can
write CGI scripts in C. Lots of people do. Many prefer it. You
mentioned that you know some C. Maybe you should take that approach.
If you must use perl (which is what I use), then you need to do a couple
of things. Learn perl first. CGI, which is much easier, comes later.
Go get the interpreter and supporting software at
<http://www.perl.com/perl/index.html>. You'll also find documentation
and recommended books and online resources there. DEFINITELY
ABSO_POSI_LUTELY buy a good perl book. It will save you DAYS. The camel
and llama books are highly recommended. I wouldn't be surprised if they
were at a nearby library.
Take advantage of the FAQ's and the existing perl script archives. You
can learn a lot and perhaps borrow some code snippets from the
archives. For that matter, there are already public distribution copies
of scripts that do what you're wanting to do. Just search for perl
script archives on Yahoo. If you're desperate, I have some of them
bookmarked somewhere around here.
When you're ready to apply perl to CGI, here are som online resources to
consult:
<http://www.jmarshall.com/easy/cgi/> Read this first. It won't tell you
much, but it will make you feel a lot better.
<http://www.mcp.com/que/et/se_cgi/>
<http://www.mcp.com/zdpress/features/3970/>
You might also do some work at "managing expectations." Perhaps suggest
to the person who assigned this task that this is, indeed, an ambitious
undertaking. Then, when you deliver on time, they'll be most impressed.
;-)
Good Luck,
Hank
Tom Holder wrote:
>
> Hi, like the title says, I am very scared and lost.
>
> I have a web development project for the next 8 weeks and require the
> use of CGI. Firstly I know nothing about CGI but as this is a perl group
> I will not offend you by posting CGI queries.
>
> The problem is, I have to do some pretty heavy programs (Chat, Message
> board etc.) and I know NOTHING about perl.The only thing I do know is
> that it is an interpreted language and to be honest this scares me even
> more. The next big worry is that I am using win95 but the servers must
> have perl scripts. What do I do? Isn't it just UNIX? I'm not prepared to
> use Linux either because my knowledge of UNIX is very thin to say the
> least and with only 8 weeks I don't want to learn a totally new O/S.
>
> I do have 'some' limited programming experience in C and I am fairly
> good at Pascal but nothing major. OOP is a subject that I have only
> touched on but would prefer not to get into this because of the time
> scale.
>
> I would really apreciate any information (aimed at an idiot- 17 year old
> college student : ) that could help me get started with Perl and
> possibly some CGI and Perl related material.
>
> Thanks for your help I really apreciate it...
>
> --
> Tom,
>
> Tom@intermart.co.uk
> Tom@ednet.co.uk
> Tom@resmon.co.uk
> Tom@2000plus.co.uk
--
Hank LeMieux
Freelance Web Design/JavaScript/CGI
Santa Fe, NM, USA
(505) 986-8166
http://www.rt66.com/~hanklem
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 13 Mar 1997 19:44:50 GMT
From: efp@mindspring.com (Eric Palmer)
Subject: Re: Integers
Message-Id: <3328589d.360458822@news.comstar.net>
On Wed, 12 Mar 1997 14:52:38 -0800, Lewellyn
<Lewellyn@ladyhawk.vip.best.com> wrote:
>Okay, I give up. I have tried the man pages and everything else available to
>me but here, so here goes:
>
>How do I convert a decimal number read from <STDIN> to an integer? (Also, how
>can I verify input was numeric???) I'm sure I had this figured out one time
>when I didn't actually need it... :(
>
$dec=1.23456;
$int = int($dec);
see the new FAQ #4 for validating input.
--
Eric P.
efp@etechinc.com
http://www.etechinc.com/
<*** standard disclaimer ***>
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 13 Mar 1997 22:02:26 -0700
From: Hank LeMieux <hanklem@ibm.net>
To: dsmith6@sct.edu
Subject: Re: Open file works under DOS, not under server
Message-Id: <3328DBE2.517F@ibm.net>
David,
I had a similar problem. Drove me nuts. What I discovered was that I
needed to specify the absolute path from the root to the file in
question. Sure felt stupid when I figured that out.
>From DOS, the script will execute from whichever directory you execute
it in. On the server, it could execute from one of many different
directories, depending on how your server is configured. You may find
that it is executing from the perl5/bin directory, in which case it will
be looking in perl5/bin/ratedata/ for your file.
Give the absolute path a try.
Good luck,
Hank
--
Hank LeMieux
Freelance Web Design/JavaScript/CGI
Santa Fe, NM, USA
(505) 986-8166
http://www.rt66.com/~hanklem
dsmith6@sct.edu wrote:
>
> Why does the following code work fine under DOS, but doesn't appear
> to work under the O'Reilly Web Server. From the server, the file
> doesn't appear to read in any data. Other CGI's seem to work OK.
>
> #!/usr/bin/perl
>
> $file = "ratedata/comments.txt";
> $newval1 = "NULL";
> $newval2 = "NULL";
>
> open(FILE,"<" . $file);
> @lines = <FILE>;
> close(FILE);
>
> $newval1 = $lines[0];
> $newval2 = $lines[1];
>
> print "Content-type: text/html \n\n";
> print "Contents of ",$file,"\n";
> print "Line 1:",$newval1,"\n";
> print "Line 2:",$newval2,"\n";
> print @lines;
> exit(0);
>
> Thanks,
> David L. Smith
> Tech. Info. Sp.
> CDC/NCID/CISSS/TRW
>
> -------------------==== Posted via Deja News ====-----------------------
> http://www.dejanews.com/ Search, Read, Post to Usenet
------------------------------
Date: 14 Mar 1997 05:15:46 GMT
From: nvp@shore.net (Nathan V. Patwardhan)
Subject: Re: Perl Browser
Message-Id: <5gamu2$4hi@fridge-nf0.shore.net>
Rajat Aggarwal (rajat@cs.uh.edu) wrote:
: I am trying to write a perl program that will take a URL and retrieve
: the document from the URL. Also, it should retrieve all embedded
: documents within that specified URL. I looked at the client/Server
[snip]
Get the LWP modules (libwww) from http://www.perl.com/CPAN/
Read the docs, or grep (search, whatever) for HTTP, GET, REQUEST, etc.
--
Nathan V. Patwardhan
nvp@shore.net
------------------------------
Date: 14 Mar 1997 06:23:12 GMT
From: aqlott@db.csie.ncu.edu.tw (Orbby S. Arka)
Subject: Re: Perl Browser
Message-Id: <5gaqsg$a84$1@db.csie.ncu.edu.tw>
Rajat Aggarwal (rajat@cs.uh.edu) 4#(l:
: Hi,
: I am trying to write a perl program that will take a URL and retrieve
: the document from the URL. Also, it should retrieve all embedded
: documents within that specified URL. I looked at the client/Server
: example in the Learning Perl book, but did not help much. I understand
: that http protocol just does anonymous ftps. I am not sure on how to
: implement this in Perl. Any suggestions on how to do this would be
: greatly appreciated.
Maybe you can take a look at the webcopy scripts, which was
written in perl, also, fetch all stuff on the page back.
As a browser, you gotta do parse stuff, and then redraw them
on screen though.
--
Moment went by, under the sea, dozens of roses bloomed _____ _____
---------------------------------------------------------- | \| _ \
R3-207, Database Lab, Inst of CSIE, NCU, Taiwan, R.O.C | | | _ <
Earving H. Chang (886) 3-4227151 ext 4693 |_____/|_____/
------------------------------
Date: 14 Mar 1997 06:41:55 GMT
From: Tom Christiansen <tchrist@mox.perl.com>
Subject: Re: random perl core dumps with obscure message
Message-Id: <5garvj$pdj$1@csnews.cs.colorado.edu>
[courtesy cc of this posting sent to cited author via email]
In comp.lang.perl.misc,
ilya@math.ohio-state.edu (Ilya Zakharevich) writes:
:[A complimentary Cc of this posting was sent to Kelly Hall
:<hall@imall.com>],
:who wrote in article <Pine.WNT.3.96.970313165715.147I-100000@boho.imall.com>:
:> TIMEOUT is set in the alarm signal handler. alive_parent sees if our
:> parent is pid=1, and if so, exits.
:
:Signals and Perl do not mix well. The situation is _a tiny bit_ better
:with 5.004, beta of which you should grab. And rewrite your signal
:handler _very_ accurately, best if it is like this:
: $TIMEOUT = 0;
: $SIG{ALRM} = sub {$TIMEOUT=1; return}
:
:(empty return and assigning to preexisting variable are
:critical). However, keep in mind that approx. 2-3% of duratinon of
:subroutine entry/exit frame still look prone to being disturbed by
:signals.
That won't work for many things, like <> and wait and sleep.
You have to longjump out, that is, die.
--tom
--
Tom Christiansen tchrist@jhereg.perl.com
What about WRITING it first and rationalizing it afterwords? :-)
--Larry Wall in <8162@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV>
------------------------------
Date: 14 Mar 1997 06:58:18 GMT
From: ilya@math.ohio-state.edu (Ilya Zakharevich)
Subject: Re: random perl core dumps with obscure message
Message-Id: <5gasua$a4o$1@mathserv.mps.ohio-state.edu>
[A complimentary Cc of this posting was sent to Tom Christiansen
<tchrist@mox.perl.com>],
who wrote in article <5garvj$pdj$1@csnews.cs.colorado.edu>:
> [courtesy cc of this posting sent to cited author via email]
> :Signals and Perl do not mix well. The situation is _a tiny bit_ better
> :with 5.004, beta of which you should grab. And rewrite your signal
> :handler _very_ accurately, best if it is like this:
> : $TIMEOUT = 0;
> : $SIG{ALRM} = sub {$TIMEOUT=1; return}
> :
> :(empty return and assigning to preexisting variable are
> :critical). However, keep in mind that approx. 2-3% of duratinon of
> :subroutine entry/exit frame still look prone to being disturbed by
> :signals.
>
> That won't work for many things, like <> and wait and sleep.
> You have to longjump out, that is, die.
The idea was to discuss ways to do it with low probability of
failure. There are plenty of ways to segfault, one the of them to die
in a signal handlers ;-).
AFAIK, if you return from a signal handler, then you may segfault if
a) You interrupted the main program when it was in an
unconsistent state (middle of update of something);
b) You read/write _this_ something;
If you die in a signal handler, then just the condition a) is enough
for emminent segfault.
Ilya
------------------------------
Date: 13 Mar 1997 22:53:06 -0700
From: "Jason Mortensen" <jasonm@primenet.com>
Subject: Using a URL as input to a Perl script
Message-Id: <01bbe984$24d34100$1c2e44c6@primenet.primenet.com>
I need some help writing a Perl script that can read a URL on another
server (ie a webpage) and work with what is read from that page. For my
purpose I can get either the HTML or simply the text that a browser would
display (if thats even possible). I would imagine that one would use one
of Perl's special variables to hold the input (assuming this is possible),
but I really don't know where to begin looking. Any help would be greatly
appreciated.
Jason Mortensen
jasonm@primenet.com
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 13 Mar 1997 22:08:27 -0700
From: Hank LeMieux <hanklem@ibm.net>
To: David Tong <dtong@lynx.dac.neu.edu>
Subject: Re: What's a good Perl book?
Message-Id: <3328DD4B.7B71@ibm.net>
David,
I have "Cross-platform Perl" and it is not a bad book. Very well
organized. Very easy to find what you're looking for. Beats the hell
out of finding your answer on the web.
However, I also find it frustratingly uncomprehensive. For instance,
this is almost a direct quote: "Perl offers scads of ways to do X . . ."
then it only tells you about 1 way to do it. If that way is, for some
reason, not appropriate to your situation, you're left asking, "Then why
the heck did I buy this book?" That can drive you up a wall.
But I will say that I am glad I bought it.
Good luck,
Hank
--
Hank LeMieux
Freelance Web Design/JavaScript/CGI
Santa Fe, NM, USA
(505) 986-8166
http://www.rt66.com/~hanklem
David Tong wrote:
>
> Hello,
>
> Thanks to everyone who replied with their references. It was clear that
> the O'Reiley books are the choices. I will also get the "Cross-platform Perl"
> by Eric Johnson since I will work on multiple platforms. I am sure I will
> come back here for more help from the kind and helpful people like you.
>
> Thank You
> David
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 13 Mar 1997 23:36:46 -0600
From: Jeremy Schwartz <jschwartz0010@ameritech.net>
Subject: Re: Who makes more $$ - Windows vs. Unix programmers?
Message-Id: <3328E3EE.2068@ameritech.net>
Jettero Heller wrote:
>
> John Lockwood (johnl@calweb.com) wrote:
> : "Terje A. Bergesen" <terjeber@eunet.spm-protect.no> wrote:
> :
> : >> Unix appeals more to me and is more advanced technically, but I am
> : >> afraid that it is losing the market share to Windows 95.
> :
> : Unix is more advanced technically? That's interesting. The last time
> : I installed a modem on Windows NT the OS found it for me. The last
> : time I tried it on Unix I read about the nine files one had to edit,
> : then gave up. It seems to me that Unix is losing market share
> : precisely because end users never make the programmer's mistake of
> : confusing technical advancement with obtuseness.
>
> *IF* it is loosing market share it's because the end user is
> mistaking "brain dead simple" for "technical advancement". By your
> logic the automatic transmission Cavalier is more technically
> advanced than a manual Porsche or Ferrari, after all you have to
> clutch and shift to get it to move. Do you still stand by your claim?
>
> ** Heller
>
> --
> http://www.nacs.net/cgi-bin/heller/jokes
> http://www.nacs.net/~heller/
> '...and let there be light!' <FLICK> And there was light.
> Van Roy's Law: An unbreakable toy is useful for breaking other toys.
I hate to do but i must.
Your all wrong, neither unix or NT/95 are techincally advanced. Show me
a unix box or even a dozen unix boxes that can compete with an ESA/MVS
box.
And anyways, this whole discussion is kinda getting away from the
original topic isn't it?
>From past experience, I have seen unix programmers get much more money
than windows programmers. As much as 50K more. Not only that but I
would venture to say that the high price windows programmer is not much
more that a fad, as far as how long the market will keep the inflated
prices for windows programmers as high as they are.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 13 Mar 1997 22:00:21 -0800
From: morbius@killspam.net (Morbius)
Subject: Re: Who makes more $$ - Windows vs. Unix programmers?
Message-Id: <morbius-1303972200210001@pm807.sure.net>
In article <5g57eu$283@tracy.nacs.net>, heller@nacs.net (Jettero Heller) wrote:
> John Lockwood (johnl@calweb.com) wrote:
> : "Terje A. Bergesen" <terjeber@eunet.spm-protect.no> wrote:
> :
> : >> Unix appeals more to me and is more advanced technically, but I am
> : >> afraid that it is losing the market share to Windows 95.
> :
> : Unix is more advanced technically? That's interesting. The last time
> : I installed a modem on Windows NT the OS found it for me. The last
> : time I tried it on Unix I read about the nine files one had to edit,
> : then gave up. It seems to me that Unix is losing market share
> : precisely because end users never make the programmer's mistake of
> : confusing technical advancement with obtuseness.
>
> *IF* it is loosing market share it's because the end user is
> mistaking "brain dead simple" for "technical advancement". By your
> logic the automatic transmission Cavalier is more technically
> advanced than a manual Porsche or Ferrari, after all you have to
> clutch and shift to get it to move. Do you still stand by your claim?
>
> ** Heller
Platforms and their respective OSs are mere TOOLS. The simpler and more
reliable a TOOL is, the more you will get done with it. Hence, if the job
calls for a hammer (as in the case of driving a nail through a wall), the
"brain dead simple" OS (not necessarily the one mentioned above) will work
wonders, while the power drill OS (not necessarily Unix, but...:)) will
give the carpenter a real sense of power (powerful, sophisticated and
complex technology at one's fingertips has been known to cause a condition
similar to a "superiority complex":)), but VERY LITLLE ELSE.
Moral of the story: The right tool for THE JOB
Morbius
P.S. The automatic transmission (regardless of vehicle or make) IS more
technically advanced. However, do not confuse technical advancement with
increased or superior performance/reliability. The two are not connected,
necessarily.
Automatic transmissions DO tend to last longer than manual ones, but when
they break they are many times more expensive to fix than the manual ones.
Ask any mechanic...:)
--
"Nyuck, nyuck, nyuck!..." Curly
e-mail: morbius@sure.net
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 1997 01:02:42 -0500
From: Alicia Carla Longstreet <carla@ici.net>
Subject: Re: Who makes more $$ - Windows vs. Unix programmers?
Message-Id: <3328EA02.2C7C@ici.net>
Iggy Drougge wrote:
>
> John Lockwood (johnl@calweb.com) skrev:
> >"Terje A. Bergesen" <terjeber@eunet.spm-protect.no> wrote:
>
> >>> Unix appeals more to me and is more advanced technically, but I am
> >>> afraid that it is losing the market share to Windows 95.
>
> >Unix is more advanced technically? That's interesting. The last time
> >I installed a modem on Windows NT the OS found it for me. The last
> >time I tried it on Unix I read about the nine files one had to edit,
> >then gave up. It seems to me that Unix is losing market share
> >precisely because end users never make the programmer's mistake of
> >confusing technical advancement with obtuseness.
>
> Why would your computer detect a modem for you? Do you mean it sent out "AT" on
> the serial port and listened for "OK", or what? When I use modems, I just plug
> them in into the appropriate sockets.
> Granted, UNIX can be quite comlicated, but it still has the edge over NT in
> really power-demanding niches.
He is referring to plug `n play technology. Windows 95, Windows NT, the
Mac, and several other systems will automatically detect new hardware
and set up any needed device drivers. It is not perfected, but it is
useful. Many flavors of Unix are also supporting plug `n play. Of
course, the real difficulty is getting the hardware to support it. It
is expensive to replace all the hardware in your computer.
In any event, Unix is providing support for plug `n play at the same
rate of speed as anything else. BTW, the only reason Unix is 'losing'
market share is because new platforms are more likely to be Windows (95
or NT) or Macintosh. Unix is still growing since the whole computer
market is still growing (although not at the rate it was just a few
years ago).
Figures never lie, but marketing personel sure can figure.
Self-fulfilling prophecy, if you tell enough people Unix is losing, you
will influence them not to buy Unix. Some of the smartest people prefer
Unix. It is just too bad programmers do not have more influence on
choice of platform.
--
********************************************
* Alicia Carla Longstreet carla@ici.net
********************************************
The first element of greatness is fundamental humbleness
(this should not be confused with servility);
the second is freedom from self;
the third is intrepid courage,
which, taken in its widest interpretation,
generally goes with truth;
and the fourth-the power to love-
although I have put it last, is the rarest.
Margot Asquith
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Date: 8 Mar 97 21:33:47 GMT (Last modified)
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Subject: Digest Administrivia (Last modified: 8 Mar 97)
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End of Perl-Users Digest V8 Issue 115
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