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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!qantel!hplabs!sdcrdcf!randvax!kovacs!day
From: day@kovacs.UUCP (Dave Yost)
Newsgroups: net.unix-wizards
Subject: Fixing the sys5 tty driver
Message-ID: <256@kovacs.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 14-Sep-85 20:58:34 EDT
Article-I.D.: kovacs.256
Posted: Sat Sep 14 20:58:34 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 19-Sep-85 07:25:31 EDT
References: <64@brl-tgr.ARPA> <311@baylor.UUCP> <120@desint.UUCP> <277@kitty.UUCP> <2612@sun.uucp>
Reply-To: day@kovacs.UUCP (Dave Yost)
Organization: Robt Abel & Assoc, Hollywood
Lines: 41
Summary: sys5 tty MIN & TIME units too coarse

Keywords:

This came down the net:

>> Overloading EOF and QUIT as MIN and TIME was a bad mistake, since it makes
>> the intuitive transform between V7 and relatives and SIII and relatives a
>> total loss... and adds extra stuff you have to save and restore when
>> changing modes.
>
>Agreed (there are proposals presented by AT&T people to the /usr/group
>standards committee to fix this, so even they realize it was a botch).  I
>usually save and restore *everything* when changing modes, so that part
>isn't a problem, however.

Puh-LEEZE, someone give me the name of one of the people
is who is working on 'fixing' this.  I want to tell
them that not only is the overloading very bad, but the
1/10 second units are just enough too coarse that the
MIN feature, which could have been a very good feature,
is useless for humans typing at keyboards.  And I want
to make other suggestions which could make the tty
driver extendable in the future, and more functionally
complete when used with modems, and, and...

Yes, some of the the sys3-5 tty driver is basically
cleaner in design than the old v7 one, but it looks to
me like something that was never finished, and not
quite thought out as completely as it should have been.
What a wasted opportunity.  If you are going to throw
away the old way and start over, and everyone will be
stuck with what you do for the next 10 years or more,
you should collect all the past experience you can,
think it through, get it reviewed by experienced users,
and really get it right.  Now if they are going to
'fix' it again, and thus make the new one incompatible
again (fine with me if it fixes all known problems),
then FIX IT RIGHT.

And whoever you are, do some research and find out about control-R.

--dave yost


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