Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!uwvax!uwmacc!uwspan!root From: root@uwspan.UUCP (John Plocher) Newsgroups: news.groups,comp.unix.xenix,comp.sys.ibm.pc Subject: comp.unix.unix-at Intro and Charter (long) Message-ID: <152@uwspan.UUCP> Date: Thu, 22-Oct-87 04:05:40 EDT Article-I.D.: uwspan.152 Posted: Thu Oct 22 04:05:40 1987 Date-Received: Sat, 24-Oct-87 15:06:55 EDT Reply-To: plocher@uwspan.UUCP (John Plocher) Organization: UW-Madison Spanish Dept Lines: 220 Keywords: microport newsgroup created soon unix-at Summary: This is the "Microport" group... Xref: mnetor news.groups:1771 comp.unix.xenix:1010 comp.sys.ibm.pc:9312 In June of this year I gathered votes for splitting up comp.unix into comp.unix.sys5 and comp.sys.microport. About 75 people responded, all but 2 were in favor of the idea. (Since then, the lower limit was raised to 100 votes for a new group) When the proposal was submitted to the backbone it managed to set off a major discussion of how the comp.unix layout should really be done. It was felt that breaking it up into BSD/SYS5 camps wan not really what was needed at this time, but a Microport group was desirable. We proceeded slowly, installing the needed software, making sure that Microport and Bell Tech both got news up and running so that they could participate, tested links and aliases, and even found a method to "do" this group with THREE moderators. All this was in place and tested when it was brought to my attention that using the name of a single distributer (Microport) to describe a group devoted to the product of many other distributers (Bell Tech, Intel, Interactive Systems...) was not a Good Thing to do. Because of this, the name was changed to: comp.unix.unix-at This specifies that the OS is true Unix, and not Xenix (which has it's own group) for any of the machines like the AT. Most of the 286 and 386 systems out there use the AT (I-BUS) for add on cards, so it was felt that this name was fitting. The point of this rather long winded note is that, sometime this week (or early next) the backbone will do a newgroup for comp.unix.unix-at. What follows is the charter we have developed for the group. -John PS. I hope that this group goes well - I will post again after the group gets created. -- comp.unix.unix-at: Unix on Intel processors Submissions to unix-at@uwspan.uucp Please add ONE of these words to your Subject: line to describe your submission: 286, V/AT, 386, V.3, bug report, or source To get an up to date buglist include the words "send buglist" in your Subject: Charter for comp.unix.unix-at Moderated Newsgroup Guidelines Description: * Discussion about Unix on 80286 and 80386 machines. Newsgroup contents: * Targeted for a technical audience of intermediate to advanced users. The beginning user will not be ignored, though. * Technical discussion concerning system installation, management, and maintenance. * Discussion of other vendor/PD software and hardware which can be used with Unix. * "Guest tutorials" on using System 5 & V/AT goodies. This speaker might be someone at Microport, Bell Tech, ISI, a Unix guru, or whoever, who would write an article on some interesting topic. e.g., Installing TCP/IP, smail, elm, interfacing to an EGA, ... * Source code postings for *UNIX-AT Specific* programs. (EGA device drivers, CGA graphics routines...) * A forum for Microport, Bell Tech, and ISI support staff to address users' questions. * Bug reports and fixes, to be indexed and archived This includes the latest "official buglist" from Microport Systems, as well as known bugs reported by the readers. Other proposed (future) benefits: * Source code archives of programs ported to V/AT (V/386 too?) At this time these will be avaliable through POSTAL MAIL only! Send email to unix-at-request@uwspan.uucp for details. * Access to Microport's proposed support BBS Editorial policy: * All submissions should go to: unix-at@uwspan.uucp submissions unix-at-request@uwspan.uucp administrivia (!uwvax!uwspan!unix-at for non-domain mailers) This will be set up as a mail bounce point which will sort out submissions for the moderators based on the Subject line. There are three moderators who have expertise in these areas: John Plocher - "Bug" reports & "source" code Eric Raymond - "V.3", "386" Robert White - "V/AT","286" In order for your submission to get to the correct moderator, you *must* include one of the quoted words above on your Subject line. For example: Subject: Bug report - V/AT uucico dies when -xnum flag is used --- Subject: Benchmarks for V.3 (Bell Tech): Dhrystones --- Subject: The V/AT 2.3 kernal is really better than 2.2.2 ---- The words "Bug" and "source" are recognized before anything else, so any Subject containing either of these words will be sent to John Plocher. "386" and "V.3" is recognized next, before "286"; these messages will go to Eric Raymond. If "286" or "V/AT" is found, or no other identifying words are found the message will get sent to Robert White. The special case of: Subject: Please send the latest buglist ---- ------- will generate a reply containing the current list of known bugs. If a submission is mis-labeled it will be bounced (by hand) to the correct moderator. NOTE that this will take longer, so *please* do it right the first time! * The moderators are: Robert White, MENTOR Software Eric Raymond, Thyrsus Enterprises John Plocher, University of Wisconsin Spanish Department * NO FLAMES OR META-DISCUSSIONS WILL BE TOLERATED * All postings should pertain to Unix on Intel CPUs. * Messages may be edited to: 1) reduce ammount of quoted material and/or .signatures 2) eliminate flames and/or Meta-Discussions 3) reduce redundant info (if many ask the same question) 4) correct/re-arrange spelling errors and grammer to preserve the tradition of King James. Message CONTENT will hopefully not be distorted. Personality conflicts with the moderators will not effect editorial policy. * The moderators reserve the right to reject or delay the posting of any material. * Technical/informational articles should be posted immediately upon receipt. * Questions will be either answered by mail or bundled in a digest and posted as volume (and content) allows. * Source code must: - NOT be derived from propriatary (e.g, AT&T) source code. - Be either Public Domain (no strings) OR validly Copyrighted. Software which sports an invalid or overly restrictive Copyright will be rejected. Note that since we are not lawyers the fact we distribute an article with a Copyright does not mean that it is really a valid one. We just want to catch the obvious gaffes. e.g., Copyright John Plocher INVALID because it contains no date, (C) 1987 John Plocher INVALID because the symbol (C) has no legal standing, This Public Domain code is Copyright 1987 John Plocher INVALID because it contradicts itself. Copyright 1987 John Plocher All rights reserved Too Restrictive - We can not really distribute this because you have explicitly NOT given us the right to send it out over Usenet. A correct Copyright is of the form: Copyright 1987 John Plocher Distribution through Usenet permitted Explicit resale prohibited An even better way would be: This code is placed into the Public Domain by its author, John Plocher, on Jan 11, 1987 Note that Bell, ISI, and Microport might find it impractical to incorporate Copyright stuff into their products; PD stuff stands a better chance. - Please include a Makefile Try to have entries for make all compile & link everything make install install everything in a system dir make doc print out man pages and manuals make uninstall restore sys dirs to original state make clean erase *.o, core, unneeded libs.. make all ; make install ; make uninstall ; make clean should be a no-op. - Include a man page for use with nroff -man - If possible, please "shar" your files before submission. uuencode all binary data, and make sure no one file is greater than 40,000 bytes. * Source code will be evaluated (does it compile/run), shar'd, posted, and archived IF it is Unix-AT specific. Generic Unix code will be forwarded to comp.sources.unix or comp.sources.misc; games will go to comp.sources.games. * Binaries will usually be rejected. Exceptions would need to have a Very Good Reason. * Bug reports should include the following: OS Vendor: (Microport, Bell Tech, ISI,...) OS Version: (2.2.2, 2.3 + DosMerge...) Hardware config: (CPU, Bios type, speed, mem size...) Problem description: (what is broken, symptoms...) Reproduce the problem: (a program, shell script...) Proposed fix/workaround: ("Don't use it" isn't good enuf) Urgency: (crashes system ... annoyance) These reports will be checked against the list of known bugs, if possible verified and reproduced, and forwarded to Microport, Bell Tech, or ISI. Bug reports will be ack'd by email. * The list of known bugs will be posted monthly. This list is avaliable by email by sending a message: To: unix-at@uwspan.uucp Subject: Please send the latest buglist The operative words in the Subject are "send" and "buglist".