On August 11, you wrote:
> >  Christ...Typing "173000g" at the ODT prompt of a pdp11 is JUST AS
> >FUNCTIONAL a boot sequence as all that fancy crap on these new
> >machines.
> 
> Not quite. With P1275 compliant boot roms, there's a host of
> configuration issues that can be tackled at booting. Granted,
> SRM is mostly wasted. As an example of usefulness, for thems
> that can actually do it, the forth monitor in a sparc or a
> powerpc can diagnose a lot of hardware problems.

  Agreed...but I've always felt (IMHO) that configuration management
is the job of the operating system or an offline separately-bootable
diagnostic image.  Yes, they're a pain, but for the frequency of their
use, I think they handle the job quite well.

  My point is...ROMs should be simple, bulletproof, and as bug-free as
possible.  Therefore, simplicity is called for.  Non-ROM software is
much more easily updated, and as such, can afford to be more complex.
The flash approach (which I *really* like, by the way) that the Alpha
systems take is an interesting cross between the two.


                          -Dave McGuire
                           mcguire@neurotica.com