Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!seismo!sundc!pitstop!sun!decwrl!decvax!mcnc!gatech!hao!husc6!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ut-sally!utah-cs!utah-gr!uplherc!sp7040!obie!wsccs!terry
From: terry@wsccs.UUCP (terry)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: UNIX on the Amiga
Message-ID: <197@wsccs.UUCP>
Date: 26 Feb 88 05:35:37 GMT
References: <6836@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> <1869@leo.UUCP> <2836@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU> <645@nuchat.UUCP>
Lines: 47
Summary: AmigaDos UNIX

In article <645@nuchat.UUCP>, peter@nuchat.UUCP (Peter da Silva) writes:
> Hey, if apple can run mac-software-that-was-never-designed-with-multitasking-
> in-mind under UNIX, surely commodore can get a UNIX that supports well-behaved
> amiga-software-in-protected-mode.

	If by UNIX, you mean Berkley $.3 or SystemV.3, not a snowballs chance.
Commodore, in it's infinite wisdom, use the 68000 chip, not a 68010, so the
Amiga can't run a vmunix... it can't support an MMU.  Tandy was able to get
a Xenix up on their model 16 and the model 6000 (both 68000 boxes), but it
was an OEM from Microsoft, and they don't usually part with code, let alone
something BB (Big Blue? ...Big Brother?) might consider back-stabbing.  It is
a very inteligent decision on the part of Microsoft... an intelligent
*business* decision.  Besides, everyone knows Xenix is fixed SystemIII with
nifty things AT&T is only now coming out with.  It might be possible to run
protected *IF* you replaced your 68000 with a 68010.

	If by "well-behaved", you mean compatable with the idea of not doing
the nasty-no-no (MPSW), workbench fails that test.  Try replacing your 68000
with a 68010 and adding something using the desk calculator.

> UNIX *does* support shared memory segments, you know. AllocMem would have
> to be pretty hacked up, as would all the AmigaDOS junk... but
> intuition.library and all the standard devices should work OK with just a
> little care.

	The amount of care required by such a task (get it? 'task'?) is more
than adequately summed up by your next sentence:

> A whole shitload of work on the pat of whoever sets it up...

> If you need a dedicated UNIX and Amiga fanatic to work on it, I'm not that
> cheap but I am enthusiastic :->/2.

	I'm not cheap either, but it's a nifty idea... I think I'd want to
be able to run something like NCR tower software or some other systems before
going off and hacking a hell of a lot of code I can't run anything on and that
noone would buy enough of for that deficiency.  AT&T is charging a good
$65,000 for a source liscence to SysV for the 3B2, and that isn't even the
most recent version.  I'd have to be able to at least recoup my investment...


| Terry Lambert           UUCP: ...!decvax!utah-cs!century!terry              |
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