winscape 2230

See, there's the crux of this whole problem: you and Babs come to the discussion with certain preconceptions about what an O.S. is "supposed" to be or do, based upon "-isms" that were inculcated in you from other spheres.

"If your only experience is with a hammer, you tend to view everything in terms of a nail."

First of all, no one today would be likely to put a FAT file system on a satellite. The argument is specious.

Although, some of the earlier satellites and manned space flights used CP-M-based computer systems, and even *less* capable O.S.es, too. So it ain't totally unheard-of.

Not natively, no. DOS wasn't designed to do that. DOS is an minimal O.S,; not a software suite. When you know that up front, then you learn to periodically save your work (if you're smart).

Anyway, it's simply not possible to "protect" a person or a machine from all the possible contingencies that reality might throw at it.

But I'd sooner trust my stuff to DOS than to WinDoze. Hehe!

Yep...a low-level knowledge of your hardware and software is helpful in ANY field of endeavor.

Easy: it simply wasn't designed to do that.

Incidentally, every modern distribution of true DOS includes a defragger.

With Mikro$loth's versions of DOS, perhaps. But the state of the DOS art has progressed way beyond that. DR-DOS (once again a commercial product) is up to version 8.0, with many interesting improvements and capabilities.

It doesn't. DOS is nothing like Unix.

The roots of DOS are inextricably entwined with CP-M. And the CP-M commandline parameter delimiter was usually the '' character.

The fact that DOS doesn't use a 'dash' as its native command-line parameter delimiter is totally irrelevant.

Unix is not the standard by which DOS can be adjudicated.

Technically, DOS requires -NO- commandline parameter delimiter at all, other than the 'space' character.

Anyway, the DOS programmer has the freedom to use *ANY* commandline parameter delimiter her-she chooses -- including the dash -- since each program requiring command-line parameters invariably parses its own command line.

Indeed, many newer DOS-based programs *DO* use the 'dash' character as a delimiter.

Next.

Oh? Please give one example of a DOS "'undocumented trick' you have to know to get anything done."

Not at all. DOS simply is what it is. If you like what it is, you can use it. If you don't like what it is, you can use something else. That's it.

If your wife-girlfriend is a bra-size 34A and you're content with her, that's cool. But if you think you need a woman with a 42DD bra size, then you have to dump the 34A wife-girlfriend.

It's pointless to unpleasant woman and moan that the 34A woman isn't a 42DD, because she's never gonna BE a 42DD. It's just that simple. Know whut I mean, Vern?