dmd platform support - poll

[John Reimer]

Hello Andrei,

> Walter Bright wrote:
> 
>> John Reimer wrote:
>> 
>>> Putting it bluntly, that's also the exact attitude that will
>>> distance people from the language.  Show disdain for them, and you
>>> are guaranteed to alienate people no matter how strong your argument
>>> is.  That, and such disdain is usually not warranted because it is
>>> reactive to a shallow response and fails to recognize the deeper
>>> social issues hinted by such a response.
>>> 
>> Back in the early DOS days, there was a lot of disdain for the
>> platform. "Real" programmers used unix workstations, not toy 16 bit
>> PCs. It turned out, though, that most of the fortunes were made
>> programming for DOS, and eventually those programs and programmers
>> migrated to 32 bits and brought the industry with it. DOS was the
>> "gateway" programming platform.
>> 
> Yah but due to other factors than its technical qualities. Leaving
> those out of the story puts things in an odd light.
> 
> Andrei
> 


He he... that's one reason the polarization effect remains so intact.  Our 
point of view tends to hold a lot of sway on our interpretation of events. 
:)  I understood what Walter was getting at, though.... just that the disdain 
really didn't accomplish anything.


If I allowed myself, I could easily be caught up in discussing why the popularity 
of DOS was one of the greatest handicaps of the era... but such an opinion 
is bound to clash with those those that made their living from it (Hi, Walter 
:D ) Granted, my point of view, would have been from the perspective of the 
consumer... and one who, as a teenager, had no investment in it commercially. 
 However, the motivation behind Linux development and use was probably hugely 
influenced by the industries' rigid hold on DOS 16-bit.... so we probably 
have DOS (and win 3.1, win 95/98) to thank for Linux's growing popularity.


It seems that influencing an industry to steer it in any one direction is 
usually impossible except by the corporations most involved.  This is one 
area where Linux (and opensource in general) has been so effective because 
it forced the industry giants to maneuver away from their intended path. 
 I don't think Linux would be what it was without the effects of the commercial 
side of things... nor would commercial OSes be what they are without open 
source being a competitive element.  So I've come to appreciate the influence 
of both, even though I don't particularly care for some of the elements of 
either.


I don't support the idea of D on .NET because I think it's the best thing 
around... I do so because I think it has a place in the grand scheme of things, 
something that D might do well to be part of. :)


-JJR