[NBLUG/talk] Where to start???

[Andru Luvisi]

On Mon, 19 Jul 2004, hayden wrote:
[snip]
> Core (ram):   128 + 64 dimm (I think in Linux world ram is called Core,
> isn't it?)
[snip]

That's kind of complicated.

Technically, no.  "core memory" is memory where each bit is stored in the
magnetic state of a little magnetic doughnut with some wires running
through it.  I'm not aware of any computers built in recent times that use
core memory.

However... because UNIX was originally built on computers that had core
memory (PDP-7, and later PDP-11), and because Linux is a clone of UNIX,
there are a few places where we still use the word because of tradition.
For example, a "core dump" is a file that contains a copy of the memory a
program was using at the time when it "dumped core".  You can use a
debugger to poke around in the "core dump" or "core file", which happens
to be named "core".

Some old timers did get so used to talking about things like "3 megawords
of core" that they do still call all memory "core".  We don't make fun of
them or anything, though.  It's just kind of cute, like how my grandma
used to call the refrigerator "the ice box" or tell me to "pull the chain"
when I was done in the bathroom.

Andru
-- 
Andru Luvisi



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