Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!samsung!xylogics!loverso.leom.ma.us
From: john@loverso.leom.ma.us (John Robert LoVerso)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.encore
Subject: Re: Misc. Umax 4.3 Problems
Message-ID: <10282@xenna.Xylogics.COM>
Date: 21 Nov 90 18:52:38 GMT
References: <1990Nov19.182329.868@cs.wright.edu>
Sender: loverso@Xylogics.COM
Reply-To: John Robert LoVerso <john@loverso.leom.ma.us>
Organization: John & Sue's House, Leominster MA
Lines: 29

Dale Courte writes:
> 4) New sh very slow.
> 
>    This isn't really a big problem, but tests I have run on several
>    scripts I run frequently show that the new sh is very slow compared
>    to the old sh. using 'time' to time the scripts under both shells has
>    revealed a slowdown of nearly 100%. The slow down is significant
>    enough that I have put "#!/usr/old/sh" in most of my scripts.
>    Anyone else encounter this?

You should do yourself a favor and replace the Umax4.3 /bin/sh with the
"/usr/old/sh".  Why?  Up until Umax"4.3", /bin/sh was the BRL bourne
shell, which is a SysVr2 /bin/sh with job control and various built-ins
(test).  However, it was compiled without job control and without
some of the built-ins.  Never the less, this is a vast improvement
over the ancient V7 /bin/sh that 4BSD still includes.  In other words,
it was a good thing.

For Umax4.3, in order to be "more" 4.3-compatible, they apparently
decided (and documented in the release notes) to toss out the BRL /bin/sh
and use the straight 4.3 /bin/sh.  This is to say ``for our newly upgraded
system, we have *removed* shell functions and replaced a vital tool with
a version 7 years older in order to improve things'' is ridiculous.

So, don't bother with `#!/usr/old/sh', just move /bin/sh to /bin/sh.4.3
(where it was in Umax4.2) and put back the better /bin/sh.

John LoVerso, Our House, john@loverso.leom.ma.us
To reach the corporate puppet: loverso@westford.ccur.com