Newsgroups: comp.arch
Path: utzoo!henry
From: henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: Sun/3 and Sun/4 - Email summary
Message-ID: <1988Jan30.223723.29840@utzoo.uucp>
Keywords: summary, Sun, SPARC, RISC, 680x0
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
References: <2183@geac.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 30-Jan-88 22:37:17 EST

> The Sun-3 runs 68020 and 68010 code; the Sun-4 doesn't.

This advantage is largely illusory, however, unless you program in assembler
a lot.  There are so many variations in system-call and function-call
conventions among different 680x0 implementations that your favorite 680x0
binary from another system is most unlikely to run unmodified on a Sun 3.
If you have to recompile anyway, the only big advantage of using the same
underlying processor is that you don't have to immediately rush in and fix
all the portability problems in your code.  This assumes that the compilers
are similar enough that *they* don't provoke these problems.  This is not
to be taken for granted, especially (!) in assembler (since there is no
consensus on 680x0 assembler syntax either).
-- 
Those who do not understand Unix are |  Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
condemned to reinvent it, poorly.    | {allegra,ihnp4,decvax,utai}!utzoo!henry