mvdir able to move /etc [Really S5 considered harmful :-)]

[G.SILLS]

In article <807 at maynard.BSW.COM>, campbell at maynard.BSW.COM (Larry Campbell) writes:
> In article <1987Jan14.123035.20364 at sq.uucp> ian at sq.UUCP (Ian F. Darwin) writes:
> >
> >In my humble opinion, the very *existence* of mvdir as separate
> >from the normal mv command is a bug.
> 
> I agree completely.  This, and the implementation of ulimit(2), lead
> me to wonder what AT&T were thinking of when they created S5.  I've
> been trying for three months to convert from V7 to S5;  so far the only
> advantages I can see in S5 are:
> 
>     1)	Greatly improved print spool mechanism (this is indeed a big win)
>     2)	It's a "standard"
> 
	Don't forget:

	a) interprocess communications (truthfully the only thing done REALLY 
	   well in Sys V)

	b) improved cron (everybody gets one)

	c) Minor but useful improvements to lot of utilities.

	d) Depending on the revision you get paging (long overdue)

	e) Much improved terminal library functions (terminfo)

> Against this must be balanced:
> 
>     1)	Above-mentioned bug (yes, bug) in mv

	I don't know about this.  /bin/rm -fr /etc does nasty things too, but
if everything is as it should be, it can only be done by root.  If your 
interested in an O.S. to protect you from yourself, try VMS :-)

>     2)	ulimit (ok, the idea isn't so bad, but the implementation is wrong)
>     3)	adb is missing

	You get sdb instead.  A very good trade.

>     4)	dbm is missing
>     5)	It's bigger and slower
>     6)	The uucp node name is COMPILED into the kernel!
> 
	I agree here!

> If it weren't for the impending arrival (S5R3) of streams and RFS,
> I'd be tempted to give up, buy a source license, and back-port the print
> spool stuff to V7.
> 
> Although I suspect the reasons are political and not technical, I wonder
> if anyone at AT&T (or anyone else who thinks they know the real story)
> could comment on why so much in S5 is missing and/or wrong.


	Its almost impossible to get an entire system now.  You have to
buy a bunch of add-on packages.  I agree, thats a real pain.

			Glenn Sills !houxa!grs