Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!emory!gatech!purdue!haven!mimsy!nocusuhs!nmrdc1!minixug!arrakis!bert From: bert@arrakis.nl.mugnet.org (Bert Laverman) Newsgroups: comp.os.minix Subject: Re: What's wrong with kermit? (ST minix 1.5) Message-ID: <9104174631@arrakis.nl.mugnet.org> Date: 17 Apr 91 07:48:57 GMT References: Organization: Alphasoft Nederland Lines: 56 klamer@mi.eltn.utwente.nl (Klamer Schutte) wrote: > bert@arrakis.nl.mugnet.org (Bert Laverman) writes: >>(say edits 157 to 166) (See part of what I mean? :-() include a truly >>gigantic switch statement. c68 couldn't handle this even with 300Kb of >>chmemory, and I couldn't give it any more (just a 1Mb ST :-(). ACK could, >>so all modules but that one went with c68. > Wrong! With a 1Meg ST you can run c68 chmem'ed to approx 625 kb. > [ explanation about how to win memory by throwing out programs deleted ] > I had to do this to compile gnudiff's regexp.c, which is a 32bit-needing > very big switch statement. RAM disk? Let me think... Ah yes, that thing from the floppy version of Minix. ;-) I threw it out ages ago. I currently have an all-minix harddisk, made bootable with that handy program stpart. But anyway, let's not quibble about how to gain a few bytes by throwing out programs. I want programs to compile by running make(1). Call it simplistic, but if you're having trouble getting a program to compile, it's a bother to have to reduce your system to what effectively is a single-user single-task machine in order to get enough memory. Programs running under Minix can count on there not being endless amounts of memory (not couting those versions that use paging/swapping), so I think they ought to have provisions for memory shortage problems. If c68 runs out of memory, it must be because something is deemed worthy of remebering, while there isn't room for it. The usual approach is then to use a temporary file, or use overlays. And don't whine about those solutions! People like the gnu-guys - who write excellent software from time to time - spoil a lot of the fun by simply supposing what amounts to infinite amounts of memory (as compared to my bank account anyway :-(). gnu-as doesn't use temp files anymore (they even threw out the switch that made it a selectable option!), gcc-cc1 needs 2,5 Mb of chmemory (not counting the 500Kb executable) to compile itself, and bash.... well, after loading a shell of 300Kb, the second console is worthless on a 1Mb ST. And if you have something else running (eg in the background), where's the space to do a fork() for the next process???? My trusty ol' TRS-80 Model 4 (4MHz Z80, 128Kb) has an overlayed OS, truly magnificent software (including an ANSI compliant C compiler!), and I usually get amazed remarks from MS-DOS users about it's speed. (ok, ok, up until they started selling 10MHz ATs for half of what I paid for my first TRS ;-)) By the by, back to CKermit: Frank da Cruz promised to cut up that switch, so let's see if we get something that approaches compilableness. Greetings, Bert ===================================================================== Bert Laverman email: bert@arrakis.nl.mugnet.org Molukkenstraat 148 work: laverman@cs.rug.nl 9715 NZ Groningen The Netherlands tel.: +31 50 - 733587 From "How to catch a lion in the desert": The thermodynamics method: We construct a semi-permeable membrane which lets everything but Lions pass through. This we drag across the desert... =====================================================================