Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!asuvax!ncar!csn!boulder!agcsun!soul!wizard From: wizard@soul.UUCP (Michael Willett) Newsgroups: comp.os.coherent Subject: (LONG) Coherent: Config, Impression & Software listing Keywords: Contents file, Hardware config, impression Message-ID: <59@soul.UUCP> Date: 10 Apr 91 17:35:43 GMT Organization: Ampex Corporation, Colorado Springs, CO. USA Lines: 459 HI! Glad to see this news group! Yes, this is long, but, my flame suit is tough, and my motto is "So?" :) Normal disclaimers apply, these are my opinions, and only *my* opinions! Since there was many inquiries as to what was available for Coherent, I down loaded the file ("Contents") from the mwcbbs last night, 04/09/91. This list is below. Immediately following is a few notes on my configuration of Coherent and the hardware I run it on. It may interest a few people, and for those that are not interested you are given permission to use my motto above as long as you do not attribute the work to me.. :) ++ My configuration: I run Coherent on a Data Storage 386sx with a 40 meg IDE and 40 meg Conner SCSI, with two controller cards. The normal boot is via the boot strap program to DOS. I played a few tricks to get the second card and SCSI drive into the picture, such as making a 2meg partition on the IDE for DOS boot, (C: drive, Partition 0, and the 40 meg Conner SCSI and the main DOS file system storage area, (D: drive, partition 1). Coherent uses the remaining portion of the IDE drive, and is partition 2. Since the IDE is really about 43 meg, I have about 40 meg for Coherent and 43 meg for DOS. To boot DOS, you do nothing but let the machine boot normal. Most users would not know Coherent was there except for a quick note that says something like "Mark Williams Company Bootstrap Booting partition 0" I do not remember the exact wording... To boot Coherent, I hold down the "2" key when I see the system probing for the SCSI disk. It then boots off of the #2 partition which is Coherent on the IDE drive, performs the fsck routine, and goes multi-user. Coherent and DOS co-reside on the disk systems nicely, and there are utilities to get files back and forth. ++ Notes on UUCP: I utilize UUCP on Coherent to connect to the mwcbbs, and to two Sun systems, one running 4.0.3 OS and the other running 4.1.1 (HDB UUCP). I have excellent luck talking to the Suns, and have had a few problems with the mwcbbs modem refusing to answer the call.... Argg!!! But UUCP is not to blame. My mail is forwarded from these two Sun machines to my PC running Coherent. UUCP is quite good, and to provide a point of reference, is to me, a cross between Berkeley UUCP and HDB UUCP for those of you that know Sun's OS of 4.0.3 and 4.1.1 respectively. For those of you that know IBM R6000, the UUCP is nearly identical. Did big blue get this from Coherent? :) :) :) ++ Immediate enhancements I wanted for Coherent: I think that two programs that are needed from the list below to make the system more enjoyable is the clam shell (csh like shell for those of us that like the Berkeley flavor of Unix) and a mail program replacement. The "as shipped" version of mail on Coherent does not allow for replies... :( You have to save the mail, edit it with vi, and mail your reply back as an original. I also run bsnews, but, Cnews, reap, and rn will definately be my next additions to my Coherent system. ++ My impression: I am impressed with the amount of Unix you get for $99.00. I think it is an excellent alternative for those of us that say Unix in our sleep, tinker with DOS, and can not afford a Sparc Station for home with DOS windows... :) The environment reminds me of running on a very fast AT&T 3b2 400, as it seems very system 5-ish in some areas, yet has some Berkeley feel to it in other areas. I do not believe Coherent has the depth or maturity of Interactive or SCO, but then you are not paying the big $$$$ for Coherent either. The manual is quite good, and I am certain makes up 1/4 the cost of the purchase. I am looking forward to the next release, and hope they support my lowely ST01 SCSI driver, as well as blow past the frustrating 64K limits Coherent really needs to do to start to compete in the larger markets... +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++ Below is the posting of the "Contents" file from mwcbbs +++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Disclaimer: Any fixes posted to mwcbbs are not guaranteed to be 100% bug free. Status: R Before adding any improved versions of utilities, check the permissions on your existing utilities and make the necessary corrections to the versions you pull from mwcbbs. If you encounter any difficulties with newer versions of utilities posted to mwcbbs, please contact us so that we may correct the problem and improve the overall system for all COHERENT users. This Contents file has a NEW format. If a file is greater than 50000 characters, the file is split into 50000 character segments which must be reconcatenated into the original file. If a file is split, the parts will be found in a separate subdirectory under /usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads. The subdirectory is specified with the SUBDIRECTORY keyword. The names of the parts to download are specified by the PARTS keyword. For example, the file adventure.tar.Z exceeds 50000 characters, and is therefore split up and placed into its own subdirectory called 'advent'. The file is split into 2 parts, advent.Zaa and advent.zab. These two files must be downloaded and reconcatenated to the a file named advent.tar.Z . This file can be uncompressed and untarred. (The path for these is: /usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/advent/advent.Za?) There are some specialized subdirectories and there may be more to follow. When an updated is posted to COHERENT, it will be placed in the updates subdirectory, but will have no parts. To download a file, use the updates subdirectory and the given filename to get the update. (Examples of specialized subdirectories are updates and toolbox.) Bytes Name Description ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3127 admshot.tar.Z Utility for executing utilities once per day. 03/28/91 ---> 86428 advent.tar.Z A text adventure game. SUBDIRECTORY: advent PARTS: advent.Zaa-b ---> 17113 almanac.tar.Z This program calculates the ascension and declination 01/25/91 of the Sun, Moon and the 3 major planets when given the calendar date and time. Also calculates the azimuth and altitude of the Sun, Moon and 8 planets. ---> 28074 awk310g.Z 'Fixed' awk. Now understands 8 bit character set and 03/27/91 multiple line continuations and unary negatives. This replaces awk310f.tar.Z. SUBDIRECTORY: updates PARTS: none ---> 17971 banner.c.Z Create BIG banners with this utility! 02/18/91 ---> 1644 beuucp.c.Z A utility for running uumvlog from cron if 'uucp' has 03/07/91 has been given a password in /etc/password. ---> 1369 bkup2.Z Script file for producing a level 0 dump of /dev/root. ---> 48963 browser.tar.Z Utility for scanning a file indexed by qndxr (included 01/23/91 in the tar archive). ---> 24826 bsnews.tar.Z Bootstrap News is a collection of programs which enable 01/29/91 a leaf node to take a limited news feed without installing a full news package. News articles are spooled in a Unix-mail-format file, where they can be read, printed, forwarded, replied-to or saved with a mail reader such as Mail or elm. ---> 44523 calls.tar.Z Utility to trace hierarchy of called functions in 01/22/91 C programs. ---> 4140 cdiff.tar.Z Used to produce Berkeley 3.2 style diff files. ---> 13394 cgrep.tar.Z An 'egrep' style utility designed for searching 03/13/91 C source for pattern matches. SUBDIRECTORY: toolbox PARTS:none NOTES: Replaces original version posted 02/27/91 ---> 75904 chess.tar.Z A chess game for Coherent. SUBDIRECTORY: chess PARTS: chess.tar.Zaa-b NOTES: requires latest curses update, binary included ---> 5683 choose.tar.Z utility for randomly selecting lines from a file. 03/28/91 ---> 176828 clam141.tar.Z C shell emulator for Coherent. 12/27/90 SUBDIRECTORY: clam141 PARTS:clam.Zaa-d NOTES: Source, makefiles and docs, requires patch20.tar.Z, libndir.tar.Z 127812 clambin.tar.Z SUBDIRECTORY: clambin PARTS:clambin.Zaa-c 02/25/91 NOTES: binaries and docs only ---> 653366 cnews.tar.Z Complete newsreader facility for COHERENT. 03/26/91 SUBDIRECTORY: cnews PARTS: cnews.tar.Zaa-n NOTES: requires rn.tar.Z and sdbm.tar.Z ---> 21894 cnewsp1.tar.Z Modifications for cnews and other related utilities. SUBDIRECTORY: cnews PARTS: none ---> 100727 comb129.tar.Z Another alternative to COHERENT's mailer. Features 03/05/91 screen oriented menuing and a reply function. SUBDIRECTORY: comb PARTS: comb.tar.Zaa-c NOTES: requires new libcurses. Replaces previous posting dated 02/25/91. (Binary included) ---> 2294 crc.shar.Z Utility to compute checksums. 03/28/91 SUBDIRECTORY: toolbox PARTS: none ---> 15983 cursive.sh.Z Utility to generate 'cursive' banners from stdin. 01/22/91 ---> 15586 compress.tar.Z NEW COMPRESS, fixes a bug in zcat. Download as: SUBDIRECTORY: updates PARTS:none ---> 14594 cut.sh.Z Cut and paste utilities. This is a compressed and sharred file. ---> 127951 deliver.tar.Z Local delivery agent to be used in conjunction with 01/07/91 a local mailer. SUBDIRECTORY: deliver PARTS: deliver.Zaa-c ---> 707419 dmake.tar.Z A newer, pd make utility ported to Coherent. Download 01/18/91 the following parts: SUBDIRECTORY:dmake PARTS: dmake.tar.Zaa-o ---> 21933 dos.tar.Z New dos command and manpage. This new version allows 12/13/90 for formatting dos floppies and understands 16 bit file allocation tables. SUBDIRECTORY: updates PARTS: none ---> 995 dowk.c.Z Utility for passing dates in awk programs. 02/13/91 ---> 19668 dtree.tar.Z Tree utility for COHERENT ---> 924 dumpscreen.c.Z Screen dump utility for COHERENT. ---> 572 echo310a A new echo utility. Employs many Berkeley-isms. 02/13/91 SUBDIRECTORY: updates PARTS: none ---> 406093 elle41C.tar.Z Emacs-like screen editor. Uses Emacs style commands and can handle large files. Download these parts: SUBDIRECTORY: elle PARTS: elle41C.Zaa-i ---> 295474 Elvis14tar.Z Source code and makefile for elvis1.4 screen editor. This is split into 6 parts. Download the following: SUBDIRECTORY: elvis PARTS: elvis14tar.Zaa-f ---> 34676 emacs8g.tar.Z Enhanced binary of micro-Emacs which understands high 04/09/91 order characters (necessary for foreign character sets). Also understands cursor movement keys (ie. pg up/down). SUBDIRECTORY: updates PARTS: none NOTES: Replaces version posted on 04/04/91. Now allows for variable tabs. ---> 12816 emacs.tar.Z Enhance to microEmacs to allow usage of keypad cursor control keys. ---> 11047 finger20.tar.Z Improved version of original romfinger posted on 02/18/91 03/28/91 NOTES: Binary and docs only, no source! ---> 32721 focal.tar.Z An interpretative language. (Binary included) 03/28/81 ---> 21613 fsck.Z Improved fsck utility. SUBDIRECTORY: updates PARTS: none ---> 177418 gnewsb.tar.Z A news reader written under Coherent for Coherent. 03/13/91 SUBDIRECTORY: gnews PARTS: gnewsb.tar.Zaa-c NOTES: Binaries included. Replaces original version posted on 03/11/91. ---> 83367 gnugo.tar.Z Pd game based upon a game known as 'go'. 02/18/91 SUBDIRECTORY: gnugo PARTS: gnugo.tar.Zaa-b ---> 195935 gnutar.tar.Z TAR utility for archiving files. Format can be read other Unix systems. Requires a libndir.a library. This can be found in the coh-clam.tar.Z file. SUBDIRECTORY: gnutar PARTS: gnutar.tar.Zaa-d ---> 5593 hd.c File dump utility, similar to 'od'. 03/28/91 SUBDIRECTORY: toolbox PARTS: none ---> 108592 hotel.tar.Z A board game, similar in some respects to monopoly, 02/18/91 involving the purchasing and bartering of hotels. SUBDIRECTORY: hotel PARTS: hotel.tar.Zaa-c ---> 6203 incl310a.tar.Z New header file for COHERENT. These will be used in 02/13/91 later releases of the os and are necessary for libc310c.a.Z . SUBDIRECTORY: updates PARTS: none ---> 724931 kermit.tar.Z Ckermit. A pd kermit which sports several enhanced features, too numerous to list here! SUBDIRECTORY: ckermit PARTS:kermit.tar.Zaa-p ---> 69317 kernelb.tar.Z Updated COHERENT kernel. Fixes kermit suspend bug and 04/09/91 enhances the AT hard disk driver. SUBDIRECTORY: updates/kernel PARTS: kernelb.Zaa-b NOTES: replaces previous kernel.tar.Z. Several changes have been made to the com port drivers. ---> 3223 laser.c.Z Utility for printing w/laser printer, specifying 01/14/91 portrait landscape or portrate layout. ---> 141839 less.tar.Z Public domain less utility. 01/07/91 SUBDIRECTORY: less PARTS: less.tar.Zaa-c ---> 103810 lharc.tar.Z Public domain archiver. 01/07/91 SUBDIRECTORY: lharc PARTS: lharc.tar.Zaa-b ---> 23371 libcurses.a.Z Updated libcurses.a . SUBDIRECTORY: updates PARTS: none ---> 47144 libc310c.a.Z Update libc.a, MAJOR revision. Fixes msg driver bug. 02/21/91 SUBDIRECTORY: updates PARTS: none NOTES: Replaces libc310b.a.Z posted 02/13/91. This newer version fixes a bug in getlogin. ---> 16308 lex.310a Post 310 version of lex which corrects a bug which misinterpretted a '#' in coloumn #1 inside a lex action. SUBDIRECTORY: updates PARTS: none ---> 27564 libndir.tar.Z Libndir.a library necessary to build the clam shell 12/27/90 and gnutar. ---> 7066 llesh.c.Z Bourne shell overlay for command history ---> 23430 mail.310a Post 310 version of mail. When you add this to your system, make the necessary permission changes to the .310a version and link it to rmail. SUBDIRECTORY: updates PARTS: none ---> 107084 make.tar.Z Public domain make utility. Download as: 01/07/91 SUBDIRECTORY: make PARTS: make.tar.Zaa-c ---> 55762 maze.tar.Z Multiuser maze game. 01/25/91 SUBDIRECTORY: maze PARTS: maze.tar.Zaa-b ---> 8947 menu.tar.Z Bourne shell menu utility and equivilent utility produced by CCSH from this shell script. ---> 4535 menubar.tar.Z Utility to be incorporated into c programs for 03/28/91 selecting menu items from a window. (Source and docs only) ---> 78633 month.tar.Z Calendar/scheduling utility 03/28/91 SUBDIRECTORY: month PARTS: month.tar.Zaa-b ---> 13465 mterm.c.Z A basic terminal services program. Works around the 02/12/91 suspend bug in the serial drivers. ---> 2996 mwdl.tar.Z An awk utility for simplifying requesting files from 03/13/91 mwcbbs. ---> 73683 ogre.tar.Z A tank battle game. 02/18/91 SUBDIRECTORY: ogre PARTS: ogre.tar.Zaa-b ---> 88565 patch20.tar.Z Patch utility, used to build the clam shell and gnutar. SUBDIRECTORY: patch PARTS: patch20.Zaa-b ---> 110561 pcmail.tar.Z A menu driven mail utility with numerous features, 01/03/90 including a REPLY function. SUBDIRECTORY: pcmail PARTS: pcmail.tar.Zaa-c NOTES: Binaries and docs only ---> 358638 pcmail.tar.Z This is the source and makefiles for building pcmail. SUBDIRECTORY: pcmlsrc PARTS: pcmail.tar.Zaa-h ---> 193648 prolog.tar.Z Prolog language ported to COHERENT. Examples and 02/19/91 tutorials included. SUBDIRECTORY: prolog PARTS: prolog.tar.Zaa-d NOTES: Binaries included ---> 2383 qq.c.Z Routine for writing directly to video memory. ---> 26896 reap.tar.Z Utility for removing expired news (use with Cnews) 03/26/91 NOTES: Binaries are included ---> 647078 rcs.tar.Z Revision control system ported to COHERENT! 02/14/91 SUBDIRECTORY: rcs PARTS: rcs.tar.Zaa-m NOTES: Binaries are included ---> 373735 rn.tar.Z News read software necessary for Cnews. 03/36/91 SUBDIRECTORY: rn PARTS: rn.tar.Zaa-h ---> 14737 romfngr.tar.Z Utility for displaying extended information on logged 02/18/91 in users. ---> 7433 sa.Z Modifies sa command which can accomidate 500 commands, 01/10/91 opposed to 100 commands for the shipping version of sa. SUBDIRECTORY: updates PARTS: none ---> 133581 sc.tar.Z COHERENT's first spreadsheet! 03/28/91 SUBDIRECTORY: sc PARTS: sc.tar.Zaa-c NOTES: Requires latest libcurses to build. Binary included ---> 104058 sdbm.tar.Z A clone of the ndbm library. Necessary for Cnews. 03/26/91 SUBDIRECTORY: sdbm PARTS: sdbm.tar.Zaa-c ---> 23259 sh310a.tar.Z Updated Bourne shell. Known bugs with redirection 02/06/91 have been fixed. (Shar files will now be usable w/o modifying the sed commands.). SUBDIRECTORY: updates PARTS: none ---> 1928 shells.tar.Z Various shell scripts to make formatting, mkfsing and copying diskettes easier tasks. ---> 2492 screen.tar.Z Utility for setting screen colors. ---> 4345 scripts.tar.Z Shell scripts for making backing up filesystems and 01/28/81 formatting floppies less painless. ---> 78911 shar.tar.Z Shell archiver utility. 01/07/91 SUBDIRECTORY: shar PARTS: shar.tar.Zaa-b ---> 38579 ski.tar.Z An unusual 'ski' game. 02/19/91 ---> smail.tar.Z "smart mailer" utility. 01/28/91 SUBDIRECTORY: smail PARTS: smail.tar.Zaa-c ---> 13853 tools.tar.Z Utilities for checking the polling rate of polled 01/22/91 serial ports, checking hard drive params that the COHERENT kernel is working with and a lex fix for the redirection bug encountered when unsharring a shar archive. SUBDIRECTORY: toolbox PARTS: none ---> 3457 tools1.sh.Z A series of tools for getting a user's id. 01/28/91 SUBDIRECTORY: toolbox PARTS: none ---> 142953 trek73.tar.Z A game based upon the popular Star Trek series. 03/11/91 SUBDIRECTORY: trek PARTS: trek73.tar.Zaa-c NOTES: Binary included ---> 6920 twoup.tar.Z Utility for printing stdout in columns on a laserjet. 02/25/91 ---> 40995 umodem.tar.Z Xmodem protocol file transfer utility. 01/31/91 ---> 190927 unzip.tar.Z Unzips files compressed with zip. SUBDIRECTORY: unzip PARTS: unzip.Zaa-d ---> 828 uptime.c.Z Utility which will print the last time COHERENT was booted. ---> 47080 uucico.310 Revision of uucico that allows use of MYNAME in the file /usr/lib/uucp/Permissions. This file belongs at /usr/lib/uucp/uucico with permissions of setuid and setgrp, owned by uucp, group uucp. ---> 19186 uux.310b Post 310 version of uux. Addresses subtle bugs relating to mail distribution and LCK.. files. Download as: SUBDIRECTORY: updates PARTS: none ---> 17054 uuxqt.310b Revision of uuxqt with bug fix so that certain "Can't open log file" errors no longer cause incoming mail to get stuck in /usr/spool/uucp/. This file belongs at /usr/lib/uucp/uuxqt with permissions of setuid and setgrp, owned by uucp, group uucp. .310b version addresses other subtle bugs. SUBDIRECTORY: updates PARTS: none ---> 1245 which.tar.Z This is an implementation of which, a BSD Unix program 02/18/91 that just searches your path for the first executable file that matches the command line argument. ---> 2000 xargs.tar.Z Allows many arguments to be passed to a command. 01/17/91 ---> 157058 xcmalt.tar.Z Communications program which can use scripts to automate 02/14/91 login sessions to services like CompuServe, etc... Supports xmodem and B+ protocols. SUBDIRECTORIES: xcmalt PARTS: xcmalt.tar.Zaa-d ---> 4120 xxu.tar.Z Converts Dec-20, VAX/VMS style filenames to *nix/ 01/17/91 COHERENT style filenames. ---> 96226 zmodem.tar.Z Popular file transfer utilities. 01/07/91 SUBDIRECTORY: zmodem PARTS: zmodem.Zaa-b