|
[Date Prev] [Date Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]
|
Re: [PLUG] OSX "middleware"?
|
Hi:
* William H. Magill <magill@mcgillsociety.org> [2005-02-24 13:46:23 -0500]:
> On 24 Feb, 2005, at 09:26, Art Alexion wrote:
> >Carlos Konstanski wrote:
> >>Yes, gtkpod will get tunes on and off your iPod. I will get that HFS
> >>patch soon. And you can always format the iPod as FAT32 if you wish,
> >>which will circumvent all filesystem issues. This is what Windows
> >>(pardon my French) does to iPods.
> >>
> >Why does Apple's flagship product us a microsoft file system??
>
> The iPod isn't Apple's flagship product, only its most popular one --
> there is a difference.
>
> The iPod uses an operating system purchased from a third party (if you
> are interested, it is, or at least the first generation OS was, written
> in a dialect of SNOBOL!).
>
> As was pointed out -- "embedded systems" are a whole different kettle
> of fish. Many things can be done because the product has a very
> specific and restricted set of things which it is required to do.
> Consequently there are many things which an "embedded system" can do to
> maximize various aspects of its operation, from OS footprint to FS
> optimization ... and, even with today's "huge" chips and such, "small"
> is still the name of the game for "embedded systems," simply because
> "bigger" directly translates to "more expensive" at the bottom line.
Small isn't always the last consideration though. FAT can be a very
bad choice of filesystem for a compact-flash or EEPROM type device.
The problem is that the FAT filesystem writes certain parts of the
device more often than others, which can cause the device to wear out
prematurely. There are F/OSS filesystems that support "wear leveling",
[1] so you may wonder why you never see a digital camera using those
instead... well, that would force the Windows users to install a new
filesystem driver.
I.e. (again) a worse choice wins based on market-share.
[1] http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/4678
Regards,
--
Mark M. Hoffman
mhoffman@lightlink.com
___________________________________________________________________________
Philadelphia Linux Users Group -- http://www.phillylinux.org
Announcements - http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce
General Discussion -- http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
|
|