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From: Terry Lambert <terry@lambert.org>
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.misc,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc,comp.infosystems.www.misc
Subject: Re: Unix too slow for a Web server?
Date: Sat, 21 Sep 1996 16:01:45 -0700
Organization: Me
Lines: 44
Message-ID: <324473D9.384C9769@lambert.org>
References: <323ED0BD.222CA97F@pobox.com> <1996Sep21.083306.26626@indyvax.iupui.edu>
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Mark H. Wood wrote:
[ ... re: speed ... ]
] 2) Is the difference really significant? If one server
] responds in 13 nanoseconds and another in only one, do
] humans (who respond in seconds to milliseconds) really
] care?
Yes.
My ideal system precomputes the results of all possible user
choices so that once the choice is made, the result is instantly
available.
My ideal editor would cause incremental compilation of the code
in the background so the program will be there when I exit the
editor.
These are unreasonable demands for current systems; however, they
are not unreasonable targets.
Human/machine interfaces have always suffered discord because
of "lag"; the simplest example is latency in "move mouse, wiggle
cursor", which may increase with system load (on a badly designed
complete system. SVR4/Solaris have this problem because they do
not have per vnode working set quotas).
A well designed system is event driven; that is, it responds to
a human causing input events, and its first priority should be
to respond to that human as quickly as the limits of physics
will allow. Doing so minimizes cognitive dissonance and reinforces
response expectation, such that the computer, like other tools,
can be treated as an extension of self by the individual.
It's no coincidence that early computing had major involvement
with cognitive psychology.
Regards,
Terry Lambert
terry@lambert.org
---
Any opinions in this posting are my own and not those of my present
or previous employers.