C bug causes double panic

John F. Haugh II jfh at rpp386.Dallas.TX.US
Thu Mar 23 10:51:13 AEST 1989


In article <2044 at viper.Lynx.MN.Org> dave at viper.Lynx.MN.Org (David Messer) writes:
>And you will probably get a flood of responses correctly pointing out
>that what you say is irrelevent.  The original message mentioned that
>he "crashed the entire system" by running this program (calling it
>a "double fault" rather than "double panic"; which may have misled you).
>It doesn't matter that the C program has a bug, it still shouldn't
>crash the operating system.

Some of us wizards would have shrugged the entire episode off with
a ``get a real CPU'' remark.

The 80286 does have problems.  I doubt that a fully functional and
robust operating system for an 80286 can ever be had.  The chip
is brain dead and a waste of good silicon.  Various modes of failure
cause the program to be completely aborted, and if that program
happens to be your operating system, tough luck.

>A true wizard carefully reads the question so that he might answer the
>question actually asked, rather than just say the first thing that comes
>to mind.

Some of that too.  Others of us are disgusted with bogus hardware.
The 80286 is such an example of a total loser implemented on silicon.

Intel created the 286 to keep programmers humble, not to be used
for anything productive.
-- 
John F. Haugh II                        +-Quote of the Week:-------------------
VoiceNet: (214) 250-3311   Data: -6272  | "Do not drink and bake"
InterNet: jfh at rpp386.Dallas.TX.US       |         -- Arnold Swartzenegger
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