[rescue] Linux wet paint, was Re: Spark10 CPU question (must fix - SPARC damnit :-) )

[Carl R. Friend]

On 12/22/2016 09:15 PM, Dave McGuire wrote:

>   And we wonder why China is eating our lunch.  We're too busy being
> entertained.

    When was it, precisely, when computers ceased to be tools that
required knowledge and a little bit of talent to tame and make
do useful things and became, instead, vehicles by which to push
"content" (advertising, mainly) at people and upon which to play
games?

    Now, it should be understood that games have been a big part
of the history of computing.  To deny that is silly, and I have
but one supporting comment in support of that thesis: "SPACEWAR!"
(If you ever have the time to review the PDP-1 source-code for
that you're in for a treat!)

    To crib the line from one of the pioneers of aviation, "What a
dream it was!  What a nightmare it has become."  If I "knew then
what I know now" I would have become a plumber with a speciality
in refrigeration systems instead of a CS geek.  At least the former
position is rather hard to "offshore".

    Cheers!

-- 
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| Carl Richard Friend (UNIX Sysadmin)            | Boylston            |
| Minicomputer Collector / Enthusiast            | Massachusetts, USA  |
| mailto:crfriend at rcn.com                        +---------------------+
| http://users.rcn.com/crfriend/museum           | ICBM: 42:20N 71:43W |
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