Position & proposal

[Mike McDonald]

>Date: Wed, 04 Jun 1997 14:35:20 -0500
>From: "William A. Barnett-Lewis" <wlewis@mailbag.com>
>To: lispos@math.gatech.edu
>Subject: Re: Position & proposal
>
>William A. Barnett-Lewis wrote:

>For clarity, that's what I'll need to do. For the record, I _want_
>Multitasking. I just don't believe that Multiuser is necessary in the
>base system. OTOH, I don't see anything wrong with having it in, either.
>Is this a little clearer?
> 
> William
>

  Adding multiuser capability causes all sorts of headaches concerning
who can do what? when? who does it affect? when does it affect them?
For instance, you're off modifying some system service. Do the other
users get your new modified services or do they use the old service?
When do they get the new service? Remember, the goal of using lisp is
so you can make these types of modifications on the fly, without
rebooting. I don't know how to support both the ability to change
things and protect others from those changes. Seems like you can't
have it both ways.

  Mike McDonald
  mikemac@engr.sgi.com