Linux is Obsolete [1992]

Linux was obsolete 17 years ago and is still obsolete -- unfortunately, most programmers only know how to write in obsolete ways, so it takes a long time before obsolete code stops being written (cf. forking servers vs. event-driven servers).<p>It's starting to look like virtualization will deliver the world of microkernels which Tanenbaum prophecied: Xen is, for all practical purposes, a microkernel with which semiprivileged processes (OS kernels) interoperate.

For a contemporary rebuttal by Rob Pike, see "Andy Tanenbaum hasn't learned anything" (<a href="http://harmful.cat-v.org/software/andy_tanenbaum" rel="nofollow">http://harmful.cat-v.org/software/andy_tanenbaum</a>)<p>See also: "Systems Software Research is Irrelevant" [2000] (<a href="http://www.eng.uwaterloo.ca/~ejones/writing/systemsresearch.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.eng.uwaterloo.ca/~ejones/writing/systemsresearch....</a>)

"If the GNU kernel had been ready last spring, I'd not have bothered to even start my project: the fact is that it wasn't and still isn't." - Linus Torvalds, January 1992<p>17 years later and it still isn't! Makes you wonder about the whole GNU/Linux ecosystem had the GNU guys actually finished Hurd.

On a side note, the FTP he mentions still functions, and still contains the directory minix. Pretty amazing that directory structure remained for 17 years. Anyway, reading on...<p>edit: Oh, it's A. Tanenbaum, my OS class used his book...

Wikipedia article about this<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanenbaum-Torvalds_debate" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanenbaum-Torvalds_debate</a>

Summary: 1992 usenet message from the creator of Minix, explaining that Linux is no good because it's monolithic and closely tied to x86.<p>In fairness, Linux evolved so that it's no longer x86-specific, and insmod makes it somewhat non-monolithic. Had it not evolved, AST might have been right and Linux might have died, particularly due lack of portability.

Adding [1992] to the title would be much appreciated.

Yes, though not for the stated reasons:<p>Rob Pike: <i>"We really are using a 1970s era operating system well past its sell-by date."</i><p><a href="http://interviews.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/10/18/1153211&#38;tid=189&#38;tid=156&#38;tid=130&#38;tid=11" rel="nofollow">http://interviews.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/10/18/11532...</a><p>And, elsewhere, by others:<p><a href="http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.lisp/msg/b2c0190dc30c3e5f?hl=en&#38;pli=1" rel="nofollow">http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.lisp/msg/b2c0190dc3...</a><p><i>"You can say the burden is on us old-timers to tell you what's missing or we shouldn't be whining. But I don't see it that way. I see the burden is on the victors, who have the resources and who claim their way is better, to show us that they won for good reason."</i>

" What is going to happen is that they will gradually take over from the 80x86 line. They will run old MS-DOS programs by interpreting the 80386 in software. (I even wrote my own IBM PC simulator in C, which you can get by FTP from ftp.cs.vu.nl = 192.31.231.42 in dir minix/simulator.) I think it is a gross error to design an OS for any specific architecture, since that is not going to be around all that long. "<p>Shocking how wrong he ended up being about the x86 line. It makes me wonder what predictions we make today will come out to.

Couple of years back, I was on the verge of starting a PhD with AST but some strange things happened :(<p>To me, AST is a god.

And still we look around and all but one OS we use today are Unix-like operating systems... And the one that's not is a security nightmare sending almost all the spam and running each every botnet in existence.<p>Is _this_ the best we can do?

Wow. I studied University using this guy's OS book. Definitely a visionary and pragmatic.

<i>Making software free, but only for folks with enough money to buy first class hardware is an interesting concept. Of course 5 years from now that will be different, but 5 years from now everyone will be running free GNU on their 200 MIPS, 64M SPARCstation-5.</i><p>I guess I should take more note when I predict things I think would be technically good ideas...

Yeah. Classic.

btw, Windows and Java are what actually became obsolete - first because of that's simply enough, second - because there is no such goal as 'runs everywhere' anymore.<p>Linux is just a mainstream, which means it starting to fall.