19 June 2010 - operating system

I used to imagine that a computer operating system was like a campaign promise, hewn in the dead of night from living stone. That sounds more like a smuggling tunnel, but then, campaign promises and smuggling tunnels share the same basic purpose of allowing movement from point A to point B without interruption. Today I understand that an operating system is awkwardly concrete and jackhammered into rough shape. Sure, you can reach point B, but you will be interrupted.