Xref: utzoo comp.os.minix:8063 comp.protocols.nfs:549
Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!sdsu!crash!pnet01!jca
From: jca@pnet01.cts.com (John C. Archambeau)
Newsgroups: comp.os.minix,comp.protocols.nfs
Subject: Re: NFS service
Message-ID: <752@crash.cts.com>
Date: 23 Nov 89 07:56:02 GMT
Sender: root@crash.cts.com
Organization: People-Net [pnet01], El Cajon CA
Lines: 57

thurlow@convex.com (Robert Thurlow) writes:
>jca@pnet01.cts.com (John C. Archambeau) writes:
>>Not even SCO Xenix supports NFS.  SCO claims that there's no way to implement
>>it easily.  This may be true, but I do know that TCP/IP exists for SCO Xenix
>>via the Xenix-Net package SCO sells.
>
>I'm working on NFS right now for Convex.  The big requirement is a
>BSD-socket TCP/IP implementation; given that, I'd suspect it to be
>do-able, but who knows.  You *have* to have that socket interface,
>though, and it has to be honest - the Sun stuff is pretty comfortable
>on real BSD in that area :-)
 
I have seen the specs for TCP/IP and they are messy, especially if the
implementation supports multiple ethernet boards.  ISO isn't one to make
standards nice and neatly bundled.  Adding sockets to Minix should be fun to
say the least, getting that reasonably debugged, then adding TCP/IP.  Oh boy,
one should be grey by that time.  :)  But maybe there is a simplier solution.

>>....  But I do know that Sun won't sell it to an end user, so don't expect
>>NFS unless somebody with an interest in Minix who has the pull to get it
>>decides to implement it.  I know NFS has some heavy copyrights and trademarks
>>on it.
>
>This is only partly right.  While Sun's implementation is copyrighted,
>the NFS protocol has been released to the public-domain, and anyone
>with patience can write one.  Further, RPC, on which NFS is based, can
>be had in the public domain, which removes a lot of the nasty work.
>Doing a server is not so bad as I see it, but a client needs the
>file-system switch.  Not that I'm about to do either.  I've seen the
>Sun code anyway, so I'd probably not be able to do a work-alike without
>being extremely careful.
 
The moral to the story is "why reinvent the wheel?"  Unfortunately, all of the
neat implementations (at least the one's I have seen) are owned by some
corporation.  But it would be nice to have a go at it.  Even implementing
telnet or rlogin would be a nice addition and probably pave the way to NFS. 
But the again, we're talking about having Minix make a quantum leap into the
realm of making it more like real Unix rather than an educational tool.  I
don't expect to see Minix NFS (which it will get that far eventually, even if
it takes a decade) to do such things as boot over ethernet (although it's not
beyond the ability of NFS).  

Just where does one look for the public domain specs on NFS and RPC?  I would
like to see them if anything for personal interest.

 /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------*
  * Flames: /dev/null (on my Minix partition)
  *--------------------------------------------------------------------------*
  * ARPA  : crash!pnet01!jca@nosc.mil
  * INET  : jca@pnet01.cts.com
  * UUCP  : {nosc ucsd hplabs!hd-sdd}!crash!pnet01!jca
  *--------------------------------------------------------------------------*
  *         Apple Computer, Inc. is really the Anti-Christ!
  *--------------------------------------------------------------------------*
  * Note  : My opinions are that...mine.  My boss doesn't pay me enough to
  *         speak in the best interests of the company (yet).
  *--------------------------------------------------------------------------*/