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From: guy%gorodish@Sun.COM (Guy Harris)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions
Subject: Re: Fork and Join, Pipe in C
Message-ID: <22253@sun.uucp>
Date: Sun, 28-Jun-87 01:08:13 EDT
Article-I.D.: sun.22253
Posted: Sun Jun 28 01:08:13 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 28-Jun-87 09:39:44 EDT
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> *WHAT* warnings in the man pages?  The only thing coming close to what
> you're saying is the BUGS entry where it says that it "will be
> eliminated when proper system sharing mechanisms are implemented."

I quote from the manual, which you appear not to have read carefully:

	This system call will be eliminated when proper system sharing
	mechanisms are implemented.  *Users should not depend on the
	memory sharing semantics of "vfork" as it will, in that case,
	be made synonymous to "fork".*  ("italics" mine)

Now, to me that says you shouldn't write code like the code in question.  The
fact that it may happen to work *now* does not mean that it is
specifically *intended* to work that way.  It didn't say "be prepared
to change your code when 'vfork' changes", it said "don't do this".
It says so quite clearly, and gives no exceptions.

> It's been said that UNIX is a OS writen by, and for, systems
> programers.  Systems programmers writing documentation? :-)

If UNIX is an OS written by and for systems programmers, it should
have remained a laboratory curiosity.  Very few programmers are
systems programmers, and at this point very few computer users are
programmers.  UNIX is, however, no longer a laboratory curiosity.
There is *no* excuse for shabby documentation any more.
	Guy Harris
	{ihnp4, decvax, seismo, decwrl, ...}!sun!guy
	guy@sun.com