Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!think.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!decwrl!pa.dec.com!daemon From: steveg@melmac.umd.edu (Steve Green) Newsgroups: comp.unix.aux Subject: Re: Cave Men and Dinosaurs Message-ID: <9105251839.AA09210@melmac.umd.edu> Date: 25 May 91 18:39:31 GMT References: <573@afsg.apple.com> Sender: daemon@pa.dec.com (System programs) Reply-To: steveg@melmac.umd.edu (Steve Green) Organization: University of Maryland, Computer Science Center Lines: 42 Apparently-To: comp.unix.aux.usenet In article <573@afsg.apple.com> ron@afsg.apple.com (Ron Flax) writes: >In article numb@cs.qmw.ac.uk writes: >>I'm getting more and more fed up of trying to bring software from usenet >>up on our A/UX machines. So few things compile without considerable massaging > >Matt, > >I'd like to hear what software you are trying to port. I have quite >easily ported many things that have been posted/available on USENET to >A/UX. A/UX provides most everything you need to port BSD, SYSV, and >even POSIX apps. All of the relevent USENET news software, less, emacs, >gcc, gdb, gas, rn, tcsh, ntp, nntp, etc, etc, etc... So what's the problem. > >[deleted stuff about the Apple's commitment to AUX] Ditto. If you (Matt) expect stuff from USENET to just compile "out of the box" then you are mislead. Most of the stuff from USENET works great on the most popular platforms.. of course.. thats what people are using. (Sun, Dec, etc..) Many other UNIX platforms suffer from the same problem that AUX does.. its not vanilla this or vanilla that. Things are no different for many of the other SysV based machines with BSD extensions. (I have had many of the same problems with IRIX and Unicos that I originally had with AUX) A program with any degree of complexity is going to have #ifdefs for different platforms. The problem as I see it is that too many assumptions are made if you #define SYSV. Programs that have #ifdefs based on system calls, include files, libraries, etc.. usually port without any trouble to AUX. (Larry Wall's stuff is great) AUX is actually a very good platform to port stuff to. Just remember, it could have been 172 386s that you have... Seriously though, if you port something to AUX, send the patches back to the original author so they can get worked in. As well, send it to one of the archives so we all can benifit. -- Silica gel -- Do not eat. steveg@melmac.umd.edu Disclaimer: If anything I said above is incorrect, never mind.