Re: is KERNEL developement finished, yet ???

[jeff millar]

Harnessing energy (rockets, nukes, etc) is fundamentally an unlimited
engineering opportunity.  But kernel development is mostly an attempt to
reduce overhead to zero. If a kernel runs 90% efficient now, then there's
only 10% additional improvement possible.

On the other hand application software is fundamentally unlimited.

So if you want to work on reliability, portability, maintainability, and
adaptation to new hardware then kernels make a good career.  But if you want
to break new ground, then it's either application space or hardware.

jeff

----- Original Message -----
From: "Frank van Maarseveen" <[e-mail]>
To: <[e-mail]>
Sent: Thursday, December 05, 2002 6:55 PM
Subject: Re: is KERNEL developement finished, yet ???

> On Wed, Dec 04, 2002 at 07:27:40PM -0500, jeff millar wrote:
> > My opinion...
> >
> > Kernels are getting mature in the sense the there's not that many ways
to do
> > tasking and hardware interface.  It no longer a game of invention but a
game
> > of polishing.
>
> no
>
> Everytime once in a while someone thinks that everything which can
> be invented has been invented. Books like "The end of science". It's
> pure hubris.
>
> Around 1930 it was proven that is was impossible to travel to the
> moon. Then mankind discovered multi stage rockets and nuclear energy
> (not even needed for that).
>
> It's incredible how narrow-minded established science sometimes is today
> (and often has been past centuries). There is too much conservatism and
> a general lack of imagination (though I must admit that no SF writer
> could come up with something as bizarre as quantum mechanics, QED,
> string theory and a few other things).
>
> Software and more specific kernel development has quite a short history
> compared to all of that. So, let's be humble and accept that what we
> do today will most likely be considered a trivial joke when the next
> century arrives.
>
> You don't know what you do now know today.
>
> --
> Frank
> -
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