Xref: utzoo comp.unix.xenix:3099 comp.unix.microport:1393 news.groups:5229
Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-tis!helios.ee.lbl.gov!pasteur!ucbvax!decwrl!vixie
From: vixie@decwrl.dec.com (Paul Vixie)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.xenix,comp.unix.microport,news.groups
Subject: Re: why comp.unix.{segment,linear} won't work
Message-ID: <83@volition.dec.com>
Date: 24 Aug 88 17:15:59 GMT
References: <25145@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> <465@sp7040.UUCP> <11643@steinmetz.ge.com> <424@uport.UUCP> <272@hawkmoon.MN.ORG>
Organization: DEC Western Research Lab
Lines: 31

In article <272@hawkmoon.MN.ORG> det@hawkmoon.MN.ORG (Derek E. Terveer) writes:
# I have to agree.  Since there seems to be a division between the 80x86
# architecture and "other" (linear) architectures, regardless of merit, we could
# really come up with two types of Unix groups:
# 
# 	comp.unix.segment	(or comp.unix.seg)
# 	comp.unix.linear	(or comp.unix.lin)
# 
# Obviously, the 80x86 CPUs would inhabit the segmented unix groups [...]

I'm sure it's too late to ward off the flame war, but I'll try.

The 80386 is arguably a linear-addressed chip, in native mode.  It has
pages, and the segments can be made large enough to be invisible.  Perhaps
the segments can even be turned off, I don't remember.

But this split won't work.  Some CPUs are neither segmented nor linear, or
they're both.  I could see a small amount of merit in {paged,swapped}, but
even there the distinction blurs on some CPUs.

Besides, I don't want people to have to know whether their machine is paged
or swapped or segmented or linear before they can post to the net.  I don't
want to see an endless chain of discussion as to what segmentation means.
I don't want to see the endless arguments about whether a given CPU is or
is not linearly addressed.

Choosing a newsgroup name is a political, not a technical process.
-- 
Paul Vixie
Digital Equipment Corporation	Work:  vixie@dec.com	Play:  paul@vixie.UUCP
Western Research Laboratory	 uunet!decwrl!vixie	   uunet!vixie!paul
Palo Alto, California, USA	  +1 415 853 6600	   +1 415 864 7013