> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mark Wonsil [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Johnson, Tracy wrote:
> > I have doubts.
> >
> > (It could be hype by a Java zealot talking to the press.)
> 
> A Java Zealot?  Would that make his behavior Jealous?  ;-)
> 
> > The report doesn't really "say" Java was used in this instance.
> 
> If I read it correctly, the article says that a company 
> called Wind River
> wrote the embedded software that's the operating system on 
> the rover and
> that the people who decide what the rover does run Java.  The 
> Java program
> takes in all of the data from the mission and creates a 3-D 
> view for the
> scientists.  The scientists can do a simulated trip of the 
> rover or send the
> commands to make the rover go where they want.

My remark about it "not" being said was my method of 
noting how it says something without really saying it.
Yes it "infers" Java being used, I just wanted to point
out it the item (as forwarded here) just didn't come out 
and say "it".  "It" was inferred.

> It also mentions that Wind Rivers's VxWorks RTOS runs the 
> StarDust probe
> that just grabbed some comet dust.
> 
> > It only says the Mars Rover Devices use it as an operating system.
> > This seems to be a general statement which doesn't necessarily
> > mean it is used in all cases, or even this one.
> 
> But it doesn't.  It says it uses Java to send commands to the 
> operating system of the rover.

Yes it does, it said thus, word-for-word in the introductory paragraph:

"The Mars Rovers devices, developed by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
(JPL) in conjunction with Wind River, use Java as a low-cost, easy-to-use
operating system."

The whole release was not forwarded to the here, only the banner and 
paragraphs 2, 3, and 4.  If one never goes to the link, one can read 
into it something that was not the original intent (as I did.)  One 
has to go paragraph 1 (which wasn't sent here,) following the 
introduction to read that.

Now I'm quite fond of pointing out the absurd for humor's sake,
hence my misinterpretation.  I'm guessing that a good portion
just read the forwarded text and never access the link and 
could have made the same assumption.

> > As far as an "Operating System" is concerned, do the devices
> > actually "boot" to Java?  Or do they really mean the Mars
> > Rover Devices use Java as an application to do certain things?
> 
> Putting aside the "operating system" remark, remember that 
> Java and .Net run
> on "virtual" machines.  The VM (or in .Net's case, the CLR) 
> engine is the
> part that talks to the hardware.  Certainly a VM could be the 
> first program
> that boots up and once in the VM, you're always using Java or 
> .Net programs.
> All device handling is abstracted in the program and translated to the
> appropriate device by the VM.
> 
> That said, Sun has done some work creating hardware that does 
> the work of
> the VM:
> http://news.com.com/2100-1001-278485.html?legacy=cnet


BT


Tracy Johnson
MSI Schaevitz Sensors 

* To join/leave the list, search archives, change list settings, *
* etc., please visit http://raven.utc.edu/archives/hp3000-l.html *