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From: bzs@bu-cs.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x
Subject: Re: Bugs in uwm/menuwm for SUNs
Message-ID: <5794@bu-cs.BU.EDU>
Date: Fri, 27-Mar-87 20:05:50 EST
Article-I.D.: bu-cs.5794
Posted: Fri Mar 27 20:05:50 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 28-Mar-87 16:39:09 EST
Organization: Boston U. Comp. Sci.
Lines: 26


>The null dereferencing problem flames should be directed both at Berkeley
>and Ma Bell rather than us, both had the opportunity, but never bothered
>to make page 0 inaccessable because of the work involved.  I heartily
>agree the current situation is a crock, and would be first in line to
>propose a new a.out type on the Vax with page 0 mapped out, but the fact
>has been that both at MIT and inside DEC Suns are uncommon and were hard
>for us to get access to.

I dunno Jim, maybe we're picking nits here cuz the bugs'll get fixed
anyhow but I think if DEC wants their window system pushed as a
standard maybe they should buy a SUN or two to test it on. I notice
that SUN has a Vax or two (and tested NFS on it.) You could fall into
worse traps than null pointers w/o test hardware (and what about that
public SUN on the 5th floor of 545, they're around.)

Anyhow, I think as usual e-mail communications are misinterpreted.
What sounds like a raving flame was probably intended as a
constructive suggestion. Code that de-refs null pointers probably has
other bugs also, it's just a very noticeable, very fundamental bug.

I don't think the issue was only portability to other vendor's
hardware, most of us scream these things at ourselves even more
loudly.

	-Barry Shein, Boston University