3 Aug
2006
3 Aug
'06
10:19 p.m.
Doc Shipley wrote:
Exactly! Every application domain has its own idea of
what an OS's role should be.
The OS is supposed to be a "resource manager" -- but, *what*
resources? And *how* does it have to manage them?? Are
resources just hardware entities? Or, software mechanisms
created in/by the OS for use by applications, etc.?
I.e. is a simple "program loader" -- read in a batch of
cards, jump to the first instruction and start execution -- an
OS? It *is* managing ALL of the machine's resources!
Except it does so on an all-or-nothing basis.
:>
Too much quicksand in this sort of argument... ;-)
MP3 player.
And now begins the "What constitutes an OS?" thread....