23 Dec
2005
23 Dec
'05
12:52 a.m.
On 12/16/05, Jim Leonard <trixter at oldskool.org> wrote:
All true, depending on how you interpret the word
"decent". What killed
Coherent was lack of a TCP/IP stack and virtual memory. The head of the
company decided that a pretty GUI (X Windows) was worth more of R&D's time.
The 386 version ran in true protected mode and had a flat address space. The C
compiler was so size-efficient that we got a version of X Windows running on a
2MB 386 (remember, no virtual memory!).
Fascinating stuff! Thanks for that. Something that I wished I'd seen
back then - I was a SCO type back then - but it's too historical to be
of much interest now...
--
Liam Proven ? http://livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=lproven
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Don't think anyone ever accused the Mark
Williams Company of being evil!
Not until the final year, where all of us were cursing the head of the company
(I was an employee for 3 years). But I agree with you, it was a great company
filled with very talented, quirky people. The boat anchor manual was worth the
$99 all by itself (and toward the end of the company, Linux users were ordering
Coherent just to get their hands on the manual, since Linux was around version
1.2 and had no real docs).