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From: ast@cs.vu.nl (Andy Tanenbaum)
Newsgroups: comp.os.minix
Subject: Re: Proposed solution to PS/2 problems - Adrie Koolen
Message-ID: <2006@ast.cs.vu.nl>
Date: 3 Feb 89 16:10:25 GMT
References: <1981@ast.cs.vu.nl> <824@faui10.informatik.uni-erlangen.de>
Reply-To: ast@cs.vu.nl (Andy Tanenbaum)
Organization: VU Informatica, Amsterdam
Lines: 21

In article <824@faui10.informatik.uni-erlangen.de> rtregn@immd3.informatik.uni-erlangen.de (Robert Regn) writes:
>
>But what about diskless MINIX workstations ?? How is it implemented ?

The networking uses RS232 not a LAN, making it somewhat unattractive.
Also, it is based on a very hacked up 1.2 kernel.  He sort of assumed
that everyone has a PS/2 Model 50/60, and removed code not relevant to
that configuration.  I am not about to translate and type in 50 pages
of report.

I think a much better approach to diskless workstations is to start from
1.3.  After all, that has complete Ethernet support and working RPC in it.
MINIX is already meassage based, so what you have to do is make messages
from users to the local FS to go to the global FS.  For example, turn FS
into a dummy process that simply catches messages sent to it, and forward
them via RPC to a remote file server.  I don't think that is a lot of work,
and it fits with the current software much better than a PS/2 version of
1.2.  For another approach, look at example 3 in the Amoeba directory
included in 1.3.

Andy Tanenbaum (ast@cs.vu.nl)