Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!auspex!guy
From: guy@auspex.auspex.com (Guy Harris)
Newsgroups: comp.editors
Subject: Re: SunOS 4.1 & vi
Message-ID: <4058@auspex.auspex.com>
Date: 13 Sep 90 17:03:05 GMT
References: <6246@vanuata.cs.glasgow.ac.uk> <ASHERMAN.90Sep12175856@dino.ulowell.edu>
Distribution: comp
Organization: Auspex Systems, Santa Clara
Lines: 26

>   1) What is the difference between the (sys 5) SunOS 4.1 vi and
>      the old (bsd) SunOS 4.0.x vi?   (except "showmode")
>
>The most notible for me was that the man-page is wrong. I looked at the
>man-page, and it said that -x would ecrypt with a prompt for the key.
>Well, not only does this no-longer work, but the usage string that gets 
>printed out is VERY different from the manual-page.

You *did* get the US encryption kit for 4.1, right?

If not, that's probably the explanation.  Thanks to an assorted
collection of idiots in the US Government, such high-tech
state-of-the-art sophisticated encryption mechanisms as the one in "ed",
"ex"/"vi", and "crypt" - you know, the one based on the WWII Enigma
machine - are considered "munitions" and require assorted nonsense in
order to be exported. 

Prior to SunOS 4.1, Sun dealt with this by providing "domestic" and
"international" distribution tapes.  In 4.1, Sun dropped the "domestic"
tape, and the 4.1 distributions are all "international" and purged of
such sensitive technology as "crypt".  US customers can get an
"encryption kit" that provides the missing bits; if you didn't get that
kit, your "ex"/"vi" won't support encryption of files.

Of course, the original poster is from the UK, so he can't get it
(legally) anyway.  Sigh....