|
If
Operating Systems Were Airlines
DOS
Air: Passengers walk out onto the runway, grab hold
of the plane, push it until it gets in the air,
hop on, then jump off when it hits the ground. They
grab the plane again, push it back into the air,
hop on, jump off...
Mac Airways: The
cashiers, flight attendants, and pilots all look
the same, talk the same, and act the same. When
you ask them questions about the flight, they reply
that you don't want to know, don't need to know,
and would you please return to your seat and watch
the movie.
Windows Airlines:
The terminal is neat and clean, the attendants couteous,
the pilots capable. The fleet of Lear jets the carrier
operates is immense. Your jet takes off without
a hitch, pushes above the clouds and, at 20,000
feet, explodes without warning.
OS/2 Skyways: The
terminal is almost empty - only a few prospective
passengers mill about. The announcer says that a
flight has just departed, although no planes appear
to be on the runway. Airline personnel apologize
profusely to customers in hushed voices, pointing
from time to time to the sleek, powerful jets outside.
They tell each passenger how great the flight will
be on these new jets and how much safer it will
be than Windows Airlines, but they will have to
wait a little longer for the technicians to finish
the flight systems. Maybe until mid-1995. Maybe
longer.
Fly Windows NT:
Passengers carry their seats out onto the tarmac
and place them in the outline of a plane. They sit
down, flap their arms, and make jet swooshing sounds
as if they are flying.
Unix Express: Passengers
bring a piece of the airplane and a box of tools
with them to the airport. They gather on the tarmac,
arguing about what kind of plane they want to build.
The passengers split into groups and build several
different aircraft but give them all the same name.
Only some passengers reach their destinations, but
_all_ of them believe they arrived.
from
the March issue of Wired (ver. 3.03)
|
