MESSAGE
| DATE | 2004-08-20 |
| FROM | Contrarian
|
| SUBJECT | Re: [hangout] Define an operating system.
|
> > from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operating_system
> > In computing, an operating system (OS) is the system software
> > responsible for the direct control and management of hardware and basic
> > system operations, as well as running application software such as word
> > processing programs and Web browsers.
Good enough for a start.
from Peterson and Silberschatz, Operating Systems Concepts (1986)
the _cover_ includes Linux, so its artwork is much later
This is an undergrad CS text, perhaps not the toughest one.
"An operating system is a program which acts as an interface
between the user of a computer and the computer hardware."
The goals include convenience and efficiency. ...
We can view an operating system as a resource allocator. ...
[resources include CPU time, memory space, file storage
space IO devices etc.] The OS acts as the manager of these
resources and allocates them to specific programs and users
... and must decide which requests are allocated resources
A slightly different view of an OS focuses on the need
to control the various IO devices and user programs (vide
the vs OS names which have had the word "control" in them)
In general there is no completely adequate definition of
an operating system. Operating systems exist because
the are a reasonable way to solve the problem of creating
a usable computing system. ....
This is from pages 1-4.
A list of the Chapter headings and subsections (CPU scheduling
Virtual Memory, Deadlocks, Concurrent Processes, Protection
Design Principles) gives more infomation. There's a chapter
on UNIX.
Ppl seem to really learn about OS concepts by learning how
one OS works, but different ones have different aims. I have
yet to find any really interesting book that compares any
two.
Some very general background comparing IBM and ATT, from
a post by Floyd Davidson sometime on news:alt.folklore.computers
:There is a significant difference in goals that is not obvious,
:which makes the primary computer tasks of IBM and ATT vastly
:different even today [and was more so in earlier decades]
:
:IBM's sense of "reliable" means that _data_ is preserved, and if
:the process dies it is unfortunate but the customer's
:transaction can be restarted if the data is not lost.
:
:ATT's sense of "reliable" means the _process_ is preserved, and
:a customer's call does not get disconnected even if the data for
:that transaction is lost and no bill is ever sent to the
:customer.
:
:The difference between the two views of "reliable" pervades all
:hardware and software design and implementation, and
:philosophically ATT and IBM are in two different worlds.
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