9 May
2005
9 May
'05
4:37 p.m.
One minor problem (I hope...). Unix-like OSes and
machines to run
are still sold today, in that I can go to a PC shop and buy a modern
PC and a book with a Linux CD-ROM in the back....
Now this list is not appropriate for linux discussions
in general
(there are many better places for such things), but surely we can
talk about old unix boxen...
Yes - but not in their capacities as generic Unix boxen. (Except
peripherally, in much the same way that we tolerate some discussion of
modern Wintel stuff, or just about anything else for tha matter,
provided it's got some suitable relevance.)
That is, if someone were to ask here (about a Unix) "how do I see
what's in a directory?" I'd say it's off-topic, or at least
inappropriate, even if the Unix variant in question happens to be V7
running on a PDP-11 - because it's really a generic Unix question. (Of
course, context can modify this; if the poster goes on to say something
like "ls doesn't work for me because..." and makes it relevant to the
way(s) in which the box is outside the commodity-Unix-box paradigm,
then I'd be fine with it.)
And of course not everything inappropriate needs slapping down. One of
the things I like about our mini-society is that we *are* a
mini-society and do a certain amount of socializing and the like, even
if it is, strictly, not proper subject matter for the list. (But that
needs to be kept in moderation, too.)
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