Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!amdahl!pacbell!indetech!fiver!palowoda
From: palowoda@fiver.UUCP (Bob Palowoda)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.xenix
Subject: Re: Xenix Executables
Message-ID: <964@fiver.UUCP>
Date: 11 Jan 90 10:03:33 GMT
References: <857@jetsun.WEITEK.COM>
Organization: Fiver Communications  Fremont, Ca
Lines: 46

From article <857@jetsun.WEITEK.COM>, by brothers@jetsun.WEITEK.COM (bill brothers):
> In article <165@raider.MFEE.TN.US> root@raider.MFEE.TN.US (Bob Reineri) writes:
>>I noticed the other day, while poking around with the 'file' command on Xenix
>>386 2.3.1, that many of the binaries are 8086 and 80286 files ! Things like
>>grep, and find are 8086 junk. 
>>
>>Could someone tell me, why on earth would SCO not simply recompile these things
>>to take advantage of the 80386 ? SCO ?? I almost can't believe my eyes. This is
>>quality control ? 
>>
> 
> It is pretty simple: If it works, don't fix it. There are many utilities
> that will never need more data space, etc.

  Oh bull hockey. If I buy a 386 version of UNIX or Xenix I expect  
everything to be compiled in the native compiler. I don't want to
get in the arguement that some programs will benefit form better 
performance or not. One I doubt will ever know, SCO more than likely
will never release a complete 386 Xenix package. Two I disagree with
preformance claims made by the companys themself.  If they break it
I see no reason why they can't fix it. That's what you pay them to
do when you upgrade right?

>  Besides, anytime you touch a
> program it tends to break. An added benefit-- You don't have to have a
> somebody run 47 tests on the program if it hasn't changed.

  Who's benefit are we takeing about?  Besides a good QA department
should have this automated.

> It was a
> concious, deliberate decision process on which programs to migrate to
> higher planes. Just because the module is marked 386 doesn't make it any
> better program than 8086. It just means it won't run on older platforms.

  True, but it would be nice to see some third party vendors that compared
a complete 386 compiled version to a 286 compilied version.  Also some
of the file size comparisons, etc. 

---Bob

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