Quote

UNIX does not allow path names to be prefixed by a drive name or number that would be precisely the kind of device dependence that operating systems ought to eliminate.

Andrew S. Tanenbaum

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Andrew S. Tanenbaum
Age: 80
Born: 1944
Born: March 16
Academic
Computer Scientist
Engineer
Physicist
Professor
Programmer
Writer
New York City
New York
Andrew Stuart Andy Tanenbaum
Andrew Tanenbaum
Andy Tanenbaum
Andrew Stuart Tanenbaum
Names
Systems
Doe
Drive
Unix
Kind
Allow
Operating
Would
Number
Device
Ought
Eliminate
Numbers
Dependence
Name
Devices
Path
Precisely

More quotes by Andrew S. Tanenbaum

Image
With current technology it is possible to put four floppy disk drives in a personal computer. It is just that doing so would be pointless.
Andrew S. Tanenbaum
Image
Writing a portable OS is not much harder than a nonportable one, and all systems should be written with portability in mind these days.
Andrew S. Tanenbaum
Image
I had never engaged in remote multishrink psychoanalysis on this scale before, so it was a fascinating experience.
Andrew S. Tanenbaum
Image
The only way to make software secure, reliable, and fast is to make it small.
Andrew S. Tanenbaum
Image
I really am not angry with Linus. Honest. He's not angry with me either.
Andrew S. Tanenbaum
Image
I can type faster than I can point. And my mother told me that pointing is impolite.
Andrew S. Tanenbaum
Image
A multithreaded file system is only a performance hack.
Andrew S. Tanenbaum
Image
Sequential programming is really hard, and parallel programming is a step beyond that.
Andrew S. Tanenbaum
Image
A couple of years ago this guy called Ken Brown wrote a book saying that Linus stole Linux from me It later came out that Microsoft had paid him to do this
Andrew S. Tanenbaum
Image
Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes hurtling down the highway.
Andrew S. Tanenbaum
Image
If anyone had realized that within 10 years this tiny system that was picked up almost by accident was going to be controlling 50 million computers, considerably more thought might have gone into it.
Andrew S. Tanenbaum
Image
A lot of other people wanted a free production UNIX with lots of bells and whistles and wanted to convert MINIX into that. I was dragged along in the maelstrom for a while, but when Linux came along, I was actually relieved that I could go back to professoring.
Andrew S. Tanenbaum
Image
XML combines the efficiency of text files with the readability of binary files
Andrew S. Tanenbaum
Image
Microkernels are not a pipe dream. They represent proven technology.
Andrew S. Tanenbaum
Image
While most people can talk rationally about kernel design and portability, the issue of free-ness is 100% emotional.
Andrew S. Tanenbaum
Image
A refund for defective software might be nice, except it would bankrupt the entire software industry in the first year.
Andrew S. Tanenbaum
Image
The only real argument for monolithic systems was performance, and there is now enough evidence showing that microkernel systems can be just as fast as monolithic systems.
Andrew S. Tanenbaum
Image
However, as every parent of a small child knows, converting a large object into small fragments is considerably easier than the reverse process.
Andrew S. Tanenbaum
Image
'Linux is a leprosy' - This statement is not grammatically or factually correct.
Andrew S. Tanenbaum
Image
But in all honesty, I would suggest that people who want a modern free OS look around for a microkernel-based, portable OS, like maybe GNU or something like that.
Andrew S. Tanenbaum