Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!uunet!lll-winken!sun-barr!newstop!sun!coherent!mrspoc!itkin
From: itkin@mrspoc.Transact.COM (Steven M. List)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.xenix
Subject: Re: XENIX 2.3.2 include files...
Message-ID: <1990Aug21.215721.29131@mrspoc.Transact.COM>
Date: 21 Aug 90 21:57:21 GMT
References: <1990Aug18.091631.19939@dhw68k.cts.com>
Reply-To: itkin@guinan.Transact.COM
Distribution: na
Organization: Transact Software, Inc., Los Altos, CA
Lines: 30

etg@dhw68k.cts.com (Eric Bennett) writes:

>I recently accquired the GCC C Compiler from another XENIX system and found
>out (when I un-tared it) that it did not come with the include files needed
> [...]
>It makes no sense to me.

Well, Eric recognized that the headers must be specific to the version of
the O/S.  So the question would seem to be not "Why doesn't GCC include
the header files for all versions of *NIX?", but "Is there any way to get
the O/S specific header files without buying the whole development system
for that O/S (and is there any rationale for the vendors to do so)?"

That is, does it make sense for the vendors to acknowledge that their
compiler(s) and linker(s) might not be desirable and to therefore separate
the program from the auxiliary files, right?  Why not unbundle the header
files (and libraries?) from the compiler?  I suspect the answer is that
you'd end up PAYING the same thing, since the only difference is whether
they include a few executables or not.  What advantage is there for the
vendor to go to the work of producing two OVERLAPPING packages?

So I guess I think that Eric (and others) should just bite the bullet, buy
the development system, and then delete any files they don't want.  I think
the same argument applies to the questions about the on-line man pages,
since you do need the utilities to process the files, right?
-- 
 +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
 :                Steven List @ Transact Software, Inc. :^>~                  :
 :           Chairman, Unify User Group of Northern California                :
 :     {apple,coherent,limbo,mips,pyramid,ubvax}!itkin@guinan.Transact.COM    :