[MUD-Dev] Re: Modular MUD

[Caliban Tiresias Darklock]

On 11:39 PM 8/25/98 +00-05, I personally witnessed Jon A. Lambert jumping
up to say:
>
>Speaking of modular things, I've got lots of warm, fuzzy and friendly 
>feelings towards COM and DCOM.  I doubt my feverish enthusiasm is 
>shared by many on this list.  :)

<Waving hands frantically> DCOM ROCKS!!!!! :)

Okay, I'm not many, but hey... any port in a storm, right? ;)

DCOM has given me a LOT of interesting thoughts about building and running
MUDs. I don't fully understand it yet, but from what I *have* picked up it
has some really incredible security, scalability, and performance
implications. I have this image in my head of all the user data being
handled on one machine, and all the world data being on another one, and
five different physical servers handling logins, and a plug-in module that
encrypts everything going over the sockets in both directions if the user
is paranoid. I imagine a mail server that interprets mail sent to it as
script commands, so you can e-mail the server from a remote location and
perform various routine tasks like checking your MUDmail and whatnot or
even setting up a note or two on your character to say you're in the
hospital or something and when you'll be back. 

Basically, I think about DCOM and my head just flies away into some fantasy
land that would probably be a good place to set a MUD. It has some of the
most unbelievable implications I have ever seen, most of which will
probably never be implemented by anyone at any time, in DCOM or otherwise.
But man... it has some great features. ;)

>Finally, I hope I haven't offended anyone with some of my negative 
>comments on Win32 systems.  And those who are offended by any 
>positive comments on Win32, I'd recommend using the barf-bag tucked 
>in backpocket of the seat in front of you.  ;)

I think anyone who takes offense over a critique of an operating system
needs professional help. On some level, every O/S kicks ass, and on some
level, every O/S sucks. The only real question is which level you're on;
lots of operating systems will do what you want, and you have to find the
one that fits your needs best. 

Me, I like Windows 9x. It took me a long time to admit that, during which I
ran (and still do run, in some cases) all three major flavors of Linux --
Slackware, Red Hat, and Debian -- Coherent, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OS/2, NT (3.51
WS, 4.0 WS, *and* 4.0 Server), Be, DOS (Novell, MS, and PC), and several
really crappy things that I don't even want to think about. I even wrote my
own DOS clone several years ago (it couldn't run a .EXE, but it could run a
.COM quite well), and worked through all the various exercises in a book
called "Build Your Own 32-Bit Operating System" a couple years later. I was
very heavily anti-MS for the longest time. I still don't much care for a
lot of Microsoft's business practices and a great deal of their software
and hardware (I don't like the new Flight Simulator, Hellbender sucked ass,
and I'm very disappointed in the Sidewinder 3D Pro). But when I sit down to
work on my computer, I can work faster and better and more comfortably in
Windows 98 (which has crashed on me exactly ONCE since I installed it two
days after release, and if that's "buggy as hell" then I have this bridge I
can sell you) than I ever have in any other O/S. And I figure if you can
say that about whatever you're using, you're on the right operating system.
No matter what it is. Even if it's a Mac. 


I want a Mac. I hate the idea of an operating system I haven't used. I'm
always just convinced that it's the ONE TRUE OPERATING SYSTEM and I'm
missing out. Then I look at the three OS/2 boxes on my shelf, and at the
foot-high stack of Linux CDs, and I remember the nightmare that was
Coherent, and I get over it. But I still want that new iMac, just because
it would look so cool next to my PC. That way when someone asked me if I
used a PC or a Mac, I could say "Both!" and everyone would have heart
failure. That would be so cool. I love freaking people out. I just live for
that. 

Hey, does anyone know where I can buy an Atari ST at a reasonable price? Or
an Amiga? Between Apple, Amiga, and Atari, it occurs to me that I have
never been really proficient at programming any computer that starts with
an A. ;)


---
=+[ caliban at darklock.com ]=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=[ http://www.darklock.com/ ]+=
"It must be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more 
doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than the creation of a 
new system. For the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by 
the preservation of the old institution, and merely lukewarm defenders in 
those who would gain by the new one."              -- Niccolo Machiavelli
=+=+[ FREE KEVIN * http://www.kevinmitnick.com/ * IT COULD BE YOU ]+=+=+=