Xref: utzoo comp.unix.microport:2386 comp.unix.xenix:4302
Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!rutgers!att!ulysses!andante!alice!debra
From: debra@alice.UUCP (Paul De Bra)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.microport,comp.unix.xenix
Subject: Re: System V release 3.2
Message-ID: <8619@alice.UUCP>
Date: 28 Dec 88 14:49:22 GMT
References: <616@ctisbv.UUCP>
Reply-To: debra@alice.UUCP ()
Organization: AT&T, Bell Labs
Lines: 44

In article <616@ctisbv.UUCP> pim@ctisbv.UUCP (Pim Zandbergen) writes:
]Hi Netland,
]
]Now that Unix and Xenix will merge together into Unix System
]V release 3.2. it will not matter (I suppose) whether you buy
]SCO, Interactive, AT&T or some other vendor's implementation.
]In either case, you will be able to run both Unix COFF binaries
]as well as Xenix binaries.

Whether the choice still matters depends on your preference as far as
utilities are concerned (they are not identical) and their may be
speed and reliability differences too. The different products supposedly
run each others binaries, but you have to get them in order to try.

]But we as software developers will have to maintain production
]of both the Unix and Xenix versions of our application software.
]This is because not all customers will want to upgrade to either
]Xenix 2.3 or Unix 3.2 and 286 owners will never be able to.
]However, we would like to produce both versions on one machine.
]Currently, for the Intel processors, we are supporting a Xenix 286
]and a Unix 386 version of our software.
]
]Will it be possible to produce Unix and Xenix binaries with Unix 3.2,
]or otherwise, is it possible to install the Microsoft Xenix compiler
]on Unix 3.2 ?

In theory this should be very easy. You can create a directory tree,
containing, say Xenix 286 on a Unix 3.2 machine. After logging in (as root)
you chroot to the root of that tree and from then on you should get
100% identical Xenix behaviour except for speed differences. That is
what my understanding of this binary compatibility is. In this isolated
directory tree you could run the Xenix compiler (without messing around
with filename problems), to generate Xenix binaries.

Now, if this doesn't work, I would say that the talk about Unix and Xenix
being binary compatible is just a bunch of lies.

Has anyone tried this?

Paul.
-- 
------------------------------------------------------
|debra@research.att.com   | uunet!research!debra     |
------------------------------------------------------