Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!ames!ncar!boulder!sunybcs!bingvaxu!leah!itsgw!imagine!pawl2.pawl.rpi.edu!jesup
From: jesup@pawl2.pawl.rpi.edu (Randell E. Jesup)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Amiga IPC should be the Amiga Unix IPC!
Message-ID: <655@imagine.PAWL.RPI.EDU>
Date: 13 Apr 88 06:06:14 GMT
References: <2504@unicus.UUCP>
Sender: news@imagine.PAWL.RPI.EDU
Reply-To: jesup@pawl2.pawl.rpi.edu (Randell E. Jesup)
Organization: RPI Public Access Workstation Lab - Troy, NY
Lines: 33

In article <2504@unicus.UUCP> craig@unicus.UUCP (Craig D. Hubley) writes:
>  So that AmigaDOS tasks can talk
>to Amiga Unix tasks (remember AmigaDOS will run as a task under Amiga Unix).
>Remember, many of the `real machine' services/facilities/whatever you need
>most are likely to be on the Unix side, if you have both.

	Uh, who said that?  Unless someone can come up with a virtual
blitter, I don't think so.  Remember that exec, graphics, intuition, etc, etc,
are based on being able to get to the hardware directly.  This CAN'T be
allowed to a unix task, unless it is somehow 'privleged'.  And if it can,
then it could kill unix real fast when a program goes south.

	You could run AmigaDos under unix if you provided memory address
intercepts for the memory-mapped hardware that passed them on to the unix
kernal, but it would be a) slow, b) tough to do, and c) require real tricky
hardware/software design.

	The only other option is to rewrite everything that touches the
hardware resources.  Then programs that don't touch the hardware would
work, though the ones that play directly wouldn't.  This COULD be done, but
would take a MAJOR investment in software to do.  I would extremely doubt
it.

	If I were asked how to implement Unix and still have AmigaDos, I
would run Unix as a AmigaDos task.  Unix programs don't go to hardware
directly, they go to the kernal.  Since C= is porting the kernal, it could go
to the libraries (graphics, etc) for it's manipulations.  It is much easier
to run a non-realtime system under a realtime one than vice versa.

     //	Randell Jesup			      Lunge Software Development
    //	Dedicated Amiga Programmer            13 Frear Ave, Troy, NY 12180
 \\//	beowulf!lunge!jesup@steinmetz.UUCP    (518) 272-2942
  \/    (uunet!steinmetz!beowulf!lunge!jesup) BIX: rjesup
(-: The Few, The Proud, The Architects of the RPM40 40MIPS CMOS Micro :-)