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Carl-Sassenrath_Back-to-Personal-Computing.html
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<HTML>
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<TITLE>Sassenrath - Back to Personal Computing</TITLE>
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Original URL: <b><a href=https://sassenrath.com/computing.html>https://sassenrath.com/computing.html</a></b>
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<H1>Back to Personal Computing</H1>
<P><STRONG><FONT SIZE="+1">A Message from Carl
Sassenrath<BR>
20-Jan-1997</FONT></STRONG></P>
<P><EM><FONT SIZE="-1">For more than 16 years Carl
Sassenrath has been a leading innovator in the field of
operating system technology for companies like Hewlett
Packard, Apple, Amiga, and Commodore. Mr. Sassenrath is best
known as the architect of the Amiga multitasking OS kernel,
a fast, efficient system which pioneered the concepts of
dynamically loadable libraries and devices. </FONT><FONT
SIZE="-1"><A HREF="https://sassenrath.com/carl.html">(More Info)</A></FONT></EM>
</P>
<P>
<HR SIZE="4" ALIGN=LEFT>
</P>
<H2>Are You Satisfied?</H2>
<P>We live in the age of tremendous personal computing
power. Our desktop systems run <STRONG><EM>hundreds of times
faster</EM></STRONG> than the large, expensive mainframe
computers of years past. Yet, what has been the end result
of this unbelievable power? Are you now satisfied with the
operation of your system? Does it operate and respond as you
expect?</P>
<P>Over the past decade the benefits of increased hardware
performance have been offset by an excessive growth in the
size and complexity of the system software. Or perhaps it is
the opposite -- the driving force behind improving hardware
performance was to <STRONG><EM>overcome an ever-growing
ineptitude in software technology.</EM></STRONG> After all,
how usable would Windows95 be on a 8 MHz computer?</P>
<H2>The Complexity Problem</H2>
<P>The developers of modern software don't understand the
consequences of their bloated systems on their users.
Operating personal computers now requires us to devote as
much time to set-up menus, installation programs,
configuration "wizards", and help databases as we do running
productive applications. Companies like Microsoft mistakenly
think that we either have plenty of time to burn or perhaps
actually enjoy endlessly fooling around with their system.
</P>
<P>This mindless attitude seems to manifest itself in every
aspect of modern software, from the development systems
needed to create it, to the application libraries (APIs)
required to interface it, to the operating systems necessary
to run it. This plague has swept through all aspects of
computer software -- as is evident when you download a 10MB
C++ shareware program, install an 80MB OS update, or receive
a 10 CD-ROM developer's kit.</P>
<P>Many developers defend their software by arguing: "What
is the harm with a 10MB program? Don't you know that memory
is cheap?" What they are really saying is: "So what if it
takes some time to download. Who cares that it consumes disk
space and half the RAM. Perhaps configuring it is a little
too complicated. All right, it does have many useless
features. But, after all, it has less than a dozen obvious
bugs, and it will run at least an hour before crashing."
</P>
<P>These developers fail to recognize the core problem:
software complexity. In recent years <STRONG><EM>it has
become universally acceptable for software technology to be
absurdly complex.</EM></STRONG> Systems have grown both out
of control and out of proportion to their benefits, becoming
wasteful, brittle, clumsy and slow. Like our federal
government, these complex software systems are now
perpetuated by thriving bureaucracies of non-thought,
propelled by their own markets of desperate, inexperienced
consumers who see no alternatives.</P>
<H2>Back to the Future</H2>
<P>I have reached my limit when it comes to "modern"
software practices. Over the past few years I've been
dreaming not of the future, but the past. Perhaps you
remember those days... when a word processor was distributed
on a single floppy and what seemed like a huge OS took two.
Remember being wonderfully productive on a 7MHz system with
a 10MB hard drive? If something went wrong, you felt that
there was a good chance you could fix it yourself.</P>
<P>To me this is all about <STRONG><EM>Personal Computing,
not Personal Enslaving. It is about being the masters of our
own computers,</EM></STRONG> not the reverse. A decade ago
this was true, but we are not the masters any more. Is it
possible to reclaim that position? Or, has it been lost to
history like the Tucker Automobile? Everyone tells me that
the world of personal computing is now totally dominated by
a single system -- one which I believe lacks not only a
consistent, efficient, reliable architecture, but an
intelligent vision of the future.</P>
<P><STRONG><EM>Perhaps we are at a pivotal point in personal
computing, and this is where we must take our
stand.</EM></STRONG> It is my sincere hope that there are
enough scattered outposts of rebels who believe as I do and
refuse to bow to the "empire" (or have done so under duress
and seek an opportunity to flee.) With a critical mass we
can build our own future and return to what Personal
Computing was meant to be.</P>
<H2>My Part</H2>
<P>For years after creating the Amiga's multitasking OS
architecture <STRONG><EM>I assumed operating systems would
continue to improve</EM></STRONG>. I figured that with five
million people using the Amiga and valuing its design, I had
made my contribution. I set aside my new OS visions, naively
thinking that others would carry the torch onward toward the
best possible future. I know now that I made a mistake, and
I have come to regret it.</P>
<P>I am now prepared to develop the system that I have been
contemplating for the last decade. I'm not talking here
about making a clone of any existing system (including the
Amiga). What I want is <STRONG><EM>a personal computer that
I would like to use: </EM></STRONG> a system that is
genuinely easy-to-operate, consistent, flexible, powerful,
small, and fast.</P>
<P>My plan involves two phases. The first phase is the
completion of <STRONG><EM>a new scripting and control
language.</EM></STRONG> I have worked on the design of this
language part-time for many years. Within the last few
months my efforts have been full-time, and the language is
nearly ready for its prototype (alpha) release. Versions
will be available for each of the major platforms over the
next month.</P>
<P>Why a language? Because I believe that the core of
computing is not based on operating system or processor
technologies but on language capability. Language is both a
tool of thought and a means of communication. Just as our
minds are shaped by human language, so are operating systems
shaped by programming languages. <STRONG><EM>We implement
what we can express.</EM></STRONG> If it cannot be
expressed, it will not be implemented.</P>
<P>Once the language is complete and in distribution, the
second phase is to develop <STRONG><EM>a small and flexible
operating system</EM></STRONG> which is integrated in a
unique way with the language. Attribute settings, control
scripts, configuration, installation, interprocess
communications, and distributed processing will be
facilitated through the language. Applications can still be
written in C and various other languages, but some aspects
of their system interface will be done through the OS
language. This system is slated for prototype release later
in the year and will be targeted at a few different hardware
platforms.</P>
<H2>Your Part</H2>
<P>The language and system described above are huge projects
and will require my best efforts for some time to come. This
is <STRONG><EM>my sole mission</EM></STRONG>, and I have no
other jobs or contracts to help pay the way. Yet, I have
absolutely no intention of selling out to a big corporation
or being driven by Wall Street greed. To do so would be to
risk losing control (again) to those who lack the insight
and understanding to make the best decisions in the years
ahead.</P>
<P>Instead, my approach is to determine if there are enough
of you out there who feel as I do -- who want a choice, who
want a system that makes you the master, and who would be
willing to help support it through financial contributions.
</P>
<P>I've been considering this for many months, but I've
never done a user-funded project like this before, and I
don't know what to expect. Right now I am hopeful, but also
a little nervous. It's a big risk. If you like what I am
proposing, please take to it to heart and consider what I
have said, because I cannot do it without you.</P>
<P><STRONG><EM>It's time to do something different. It's
time to do something for ourselves. I hope you will join
with me, rebel against software complexity, and return us
again to being the masters of our own Personal
Computing.</EM></STRONG></P>
<P>Yours as always,</P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><P>Carl Sassenrath</P></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P> </P>
<P>
<HR SIZE="4" ALIGN=LEFT>
</P>
<P><STRONG>Keep an eye on this web site,
<A HREF="http://www.rebol.com">www.rebol.com</A>, for more
information.</STRONG></P>
<P>
<HR SIZE="4" ALIGN=LEFT>
</P>
<P><STRONG><FONT SIZE="-1">Copyright © Carl Sassenrath
1997<BR>
Permission is granted to copy, distribute, and repost so
long as the copyright is preserved.<BR>
Translators: there are numerous English idioms in this
document, if you need help with a clarification, please
contact me.</FONT></STRONG></P>
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