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From: acy@calvin.icd.abnet.COM (Adnan Yaqub)
Newsgroups: comp.os.v
Subject: A Brief Description of V (was Re: C compiler for V)
Summary: V is a distributed operating system from Stanford.
Message-ID: <ACY.88Jul27104452@calvin.icd.abnet.COM>
Date: 27 Jul 88 14:44:54 GMT
References: <1679@kalliope.rice.edu> <50600001@m.cs.uiuc.edu> <1118@astroatc.UUCP>
Sender: news@abvax.UUCP
Organization: Neither Here Nor There
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In-reply-to: johnw@astroatc.UUCP's message of 26 Jul 88 02:01:05 GMT

In article <1118@astroatc.UUCP> johnw@astroatc.UUCP (John F. Wardale) writes:

   Since this is about articale #5 for this group, could someone post
   a description/summary/etc. of "V"  When I saw the newsgroup activation 
   message, I thought it might by System-V, but "V6.0 and V7.0" seem 
   to prove that wrong!

			   Thanks in Advance	
					   John Wardale

(This description is taken from the V Data Sheet.)

The V-system (pronounced `vee') is a distributed operating system for
a collection of diskless workstations connected by Ethernet.  It was
developed mainly by David Cheriton and Keith Lantz at Stanford.  For
US $10,000 (commercial) or US $200 (academic) one can purchase a
license for the source code for V version 6.0 from Standford.  This
includes:
	o V kernel - a real-time multi-process based kernel that
	  provides process, device, and memory management plus
	  transparent local and network interprocess communication by
	  messages.
	o V server - a server program that runs on Berkeley UNIX
	  providing file access and remote program execution to
	  workstations running the V kernel.
	o C run-time library - run time support for writing C programs
	  to execute under the V kernel, including transparent access
	  to remote files using the UNIX `stdio' interface.
	o Exec - A UNIX shell-like command interpreter capable of
	  loading and executing programs in separate contexts unsing
	  network file access.
	o VGTS - A multi-window virtual graphics terminal front-end,
	  providing a high-level graphics and text interface to
	  concurrently executing programs.
	o Miscellaneous - A collection of server processes and
	  commands, including IP/TCP Internet server, pipe server,
	  name server, interactive debugger, screen editor, and font
	  editor.

The current hardware supported is Sun and VaxStation-II workstations.
To use V you are required to have a Berkeley UNIX 4.2 source license.

For more information you can contact:
	Office of Technology Licensing
	Software Distribution Center
	Stanford University
	350 Cambridge Ave., Suite 250
	Palo alto, CA 94306
	(415) 723-0651

A good reference on V is:
	Cheriton, D. The V Distributed System. In `Communications of
	the ACM' 31, 3 (March 88), 314-333. 
--

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