Newsgroups: comp.os.minix
Subject: Re: why use minix?
From: cangel@famvid.com
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On 1999-10-17 tm@myster.hwg.edu.ee(MartT~nso) said:

TM>>> When    Linux   has  been  developed?  Does  it  have  ANY
TM>>> advantages in 

TM> Damnit. Did you ever read the FAQ? 

    I  can understand your frustration but speaking as one who _has_
    read  the various FAQ files I can honestly say they don't help a
    great  deal  when you don't have state-of-the-art hardware and a
    1gig+ hard drive to work with. 

TM> Minix  was  developed  to explain how operating systems work
TM> and  so  on.  It was also a project to create a unix-like OS
TM> that would run on an XT. 

    This  may  have  been  it's  origin  but  I'd  wager that recent
    versions  will not install on the XT's with 640k memory and a 10
    meg    hard    drive    and  monochrome  monitor  (remember  the
    greenscreen? I have one here and am using it now). 

TM>>> comparison with Linux? 

TM> It's small. Very small. 

    This  is what I find in the FAQ. Small - what is small? Small to
    my  daughter  with  a  KIII  and 128meg of memory attached to an
    18gig  hard  drive  or  small  to my old XT with 640k of memory,
    360k  disks,  and  65meg  hard  drive  (I  dumped  the  original
    10megger years ago). 

TM> I  have  a  fully functioning system on one floppy disk with
TM> networking and everything else i need. 

    One  floppy  disk  - OK, what size? 360k, 720k, 1.2meg, 1.44meg?
    XT's  generally  don't  have  anything larger than 360k although
    some  can  work  with  720k  disk  drives (or so I am told). I'm
    guessing  1.44 meg which means we've moved from the XT mentioned
    earlier as the minimum to a '286 AT machine, right? 

    I've  seen  msgs from LINUX users that they can put it "all on a
    floppy"   but  the  truth  is  you  must  have  a  full  install
    operational  on  a  much  larger system in order to modify it to
    work  from  floppies.  This  is  being  a bit disingenuous since
    without  the full install no one will ever get MINIX or LINUX to
    work from floppies. 

TM> I  have  recompiled the minix kernel on 10 meg. Try to do it
TM> with  linux...  it's  kernel IS 10 meg. when it's gzipped, i
TM> mean. 

    What  compiler did you use on an XT with a 10meg hard drive? How
    much memory did this system have with a 10 meg hard drive? 

TM>>> Isn't  it only for hobby-use, or for thoose who only has a
TM>>> 2x86 computer? 

TM> It's for those who feel interested in it.. 

    Those  who are interested and have enough memory and enough hard
    drive space to get it to actually run, yes. 

TM> Hobbysts...  those  who want to learn, how OS works... those
TM> who  just  want  to mess around with it... those who have an
TM> old  machine and want a unix on it. If you can make a use of
TM> it, then you can use it. 

    There  are  practical limitations that all MINIX and LINUX users
    carefully  avoid  with  general  terms like 'enough' and 'small'
    etc. FAQ files do the same IMO. 

TM>> For  most  purposes  Linux is going to be better, but Linux
TM>> has grown into a _big_ OS these days. 

    Msgs  from  LINUX users sound indentical to when Microsoft moved
    from  DOS  to  Windows.  The  minimal  hardware requirements for
    LINUX  are currently where W95 forced everyone to go and it will
    eventually  reach  W98 system requirements if it hasn't already.
    LINUX is becoming "the _other_ GUI" with X and KDE IMO. 

TM>> Minix  is  better  for learning about OS internals and runs
TM>> much more quickly on old hardware. 

TM> Most  purposes...  yes,  if you want to put up a server, use
TM> linux, if you want to play around... use minix. 

    Many  of  us  "want  to  play  around" but those using MINIX and
    LINUX  jump  from  XT with 10megs to '386 with 4megs and back in
    their    descriptions  of  minimal  hardware  without  realizing
    they're doing it. 

    Reading  between  the  lines  I'd guess at this point that MINIX
    isn't  worth  attempting  on anything less than a '286 with 2meg
    of  memory  and  100meg or larger hard drive. Yes, you _do_ need
    something  other  than  just  the OS on the hard drive to 'play'
    and  if  you  want  to  recompile  you  need '386 to run the GNU
    compilers too! 

>
>     Charles.Angelich
>       @AngelFire.com
>          USA, MI

