Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!bloom-beacon!oberon!sdcrdcf!ism780c!ico!cadnetix.UUCP!childs
From: childs@cadnetix.UUCP (David Childs)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Putting devices in the filename space
Message-ID: <907@cadnetix.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 30-Sep-87 12:07:29 EDT
Article-I.D.: cadnetix.907
Posted: Wed Sep 30 12:07:29 1987
Date-Received: Mon, 5-Oct-87 00:47:39 EDT
References: <503@louie.udel.EDU> <1929@umd5.umd.edu> <775@sugar.UUCP> <5218@jade.BERKELEY.EDU>
Organization: Cadnetix Corp., Boulder, CO
Lines: 65
Summary: more

In article <5218@jade.BERKELEY.EDU>, mwm@eris.BERKELEY.EDU (Mike Meyer) writes:
<In article <805@sugar.UUCP> peter@sugar.UUCP (Peter da Silva) writes:
<<In article <5176@jade>, mwm@eris (Mike Meyer) writes:
<<> Peter gave a nice little table of concepts and how you expressed them.
<<> But he made a few mistakes. Let's correct them:
<<
<<That's not a bug, that's a feature. Sure, UNIX allows you to use "null" as the
<<the name of the current directory... but it's not the recommended way of addressing
<<addressing it. It's a side effect. It (as you pointed out) can't be used
<<reliably anywhere dot can. Before you comment on this, read on...
< 
<Ah SO! The light dawns. Peter and I have different interpretations of
<the Unix file name semantics. He says that "null is a kludge, as it
<means the current directory everywhere but the beginning of a path
<name." I says "/ is a kludge, as it means look in the current
<directory for the following file name everywhere but the beginning of
<the file name." This explains the differences in the table, and some
<other things.

[LOTS OF STUFF]

<I agree. But once you turn that off, being able to append "/file" to
<directory names to get valid file names quits working for Unix. Works
<exactly the same for AmigaDOS, though.


[LOTS OF STUFF]


It seems to me that the problem isn't all that hard to fix.  Why not
just have all non-NULL UN*X directories end with '/', and all non-NULL AmigaD*S
directories end with either ':' or '/'?  Then insted of adding '/filename' to
the directory name, one just adds 'filename'.  This way, the NULL directory
will work if all other directories end with '/'.  I've allways thought
it was a kludge to append a '/' to the directory name before adding the
filename.  By adding a slash first, one is admitting that the directory
name should really be 'dir/' insted of just 'dir', or that the filename
should really be '/filename' insted of just 'filename'.  NULL, df0:,
df0:dir/etc/, dir/ and / should all be valid directory names.

I would have to say the biggest kludge is either operating system allowing
a directory name that can't just have a filename appended to it.

This is just my opinion, but it's the right opinion.  I like sending stuff
like this, it lets me see that I'm not the only one reading it.

David Childs  Cadnetix Corp.
childs@cadnetix.UUCP  seismo!hao!ico!cadnetix!childs

P.S.  I can't believe that ASDG will sell me an un-populated board for only
$325, or what ever their price is.  Let's see,  I can take my $425 2 meg board,
send it to them with $325, and get a 2 meg board back.  What was that
address again? :-)  I'm sorry, it just doesn't seem like a real bargain.
Id rather take my chances with the $45 converter card that lets me plug my
SOTS ram into the 2000 bus.  The other real bargain I've heard about over
the net is ethernet card for $699 (I think) plus the $200 software to
get ethernet (total $899), versus the Amiga2000 (if you have one approach)
where you buy the IBM-PC bridge card plus an IBM-slotted ethernet card plus
a development environment for $200 more than the first approach.  How much
IBM-PC compatibility do you get from the Amiga ethernet card? :-)  I think
the whole idea of the bridge card was to get a bus for inexpensive add-ons
while getting a nearly free IBM-PC development environment to boot.

Send Flames, Software at Cadnetix has a air-conditioner that could turn
the Astrodome into a walk in freezer.