From: Tim Hammerquist <tim@...>
Date: 2002-03-20T09:01:15+09:00
Subject: Re: Is there anything left but *nix and Windows?

Chris Gehlker graced us by uttering:
> In a totally different context, Massimiliano Mirra asked:
>
> Is extconf.rb a dependable way on non-*nix platforms?
>
> Which made we wonder if non-*nix is just another work for Windows. It
> seems like in the distant past, DEC had VMS, IBM and Data General had
> their own non-*nix OSes, and there was something called CPM for PCs.
>
> But now BeOS is gone and I look around for where Ruby runs and it
> seems that it comes down to Windows and *nix. I suppose it might run
> on Palm Desktop or something but, If so, the PickAxe Book doesn't
> mention it.
>
> It's kind of sad, really. I'm sure all those other OSes had their good
> points.

In all honestly, I often use "non-*nix" as a euphemism for Win32, *BUT*
that doesn't mean it's down to Win32 and *nix. There is, of course,
Macintosh, which is not quite a *nix environment, despite the leaps and
bounds achieved with OS X. Several other OSs have a small but strong
following. Some still use BeOS, and there's still a notable Amiga
following. ;)

In short, you can take a look at some of the systems that Vim is still
ported to before writing off all the old beasts:

  - OS/390
  - Amiga
  - BeOS
  - DOS
  - Mac
  - MS-DOS
  - OS/2
  - VMS

Tim Hammerquist
-- 
I'd put my money where my mouth is, but my mouth keeps moving.
    -- Larry Wall in <199704051723.JAA28035@wall.org>