Ambiguity in definition of setjmp/longjmp makes them much less useful

[Dan Bernstein]

In article <G2B6:ND at xds13.ferranti.com> peter at ficc.ferranti.com (Peter da Silva) writes:
> > Say what? I've written large BSD applications that don't do anything
> > inside signal handlers other than set flags. Where's this ``need'' you
> > talk about?
> To use an alarm to break a read. In system V you can do that just by setting
> a flag. In BSD you have to longjmp out.

Oh... Catch up to 4.3, where this has been fixed (in fact giving the
programmer the choice of what to do). You're right, BSD 4.2 can be quite
annoying at times.

> > And if you're going to insist that BSD is buggier than SysV,
> > how about some proof?
> I didn't say that. I said BSD is buggier than a dog pound.

Exactly. And vague statements like ``System V shows fewer signs of
feeping creaturism'' don't convince anyone that BSD is buggier than
System V.

---Dan