Overview

Just because you have an army of people saying that you're right doesn't mean that you're right. I can go out and get an army of people to say I'm right, too.

From a conversation with Don "Smokey" Wallace

In the previous chapter, we compared Linux and the Unix philosophy with the philosophies of other operating systems. While those systems were significant in their own right, they have not have the kind of impact on the world that Microsoft Windows has had. We explored those systems for good reason, however. Not only did they exhibit characteristics common to proprietary systems, but they embodied design philosophies that run counter to the Unix philosophy in various ways. And, not surprisingly, adherents of those design philosophies have found a new system that continues their approaches in Microsoft Windows.

If you'll carefully examine the design philosophy behind Microsoft Windows, you'll find that it bears strong resemblance to Digital's VMS operating system. This is not an accident. Their roots are similar because of the design approach taken by David Cutler, the lead engineer from Digital who was responsible for making VMS (and Digital's VAX hardware) successful. Cutler was the driving force behind most of Digital's operating systems down through the years, and VMS was his magnum opus. Or so it would seem. Soon after VMS reached its zenith in the early 1990s, however, Cutler sought kindred spirits elsewhere. He found them in the offices of Microsoft, where he led the design of what eventually...