More notes from V.4.0 software developer conference (LONG)

[Ozan Yigit]

In article <10421 at tekecs.TEK.COM> andrew at frip.gwd.tek.com writes:

>UNIX V.4.0 really is all things to all people, and AT&T is working hard
>to make it that way.

Oh, goodie... I finally get to re-do my "aladdin and the fat-and-ugly
genie (VMS V4.0)" poster for a variant of UN*X. (I would not have dreamed
this possible few years back, when I originally did the poster..)
Free copies will be available in the next USENIX, for frictional

>V.4 includes not quite all of 4.3BSD.  Little things, like biff and
>sendmail, are missing.

Will they finally credit Berkeley for Berkeley stuff, or will it be
another "VI" ?? Take it, and never mention where it came from...

>V.4 will support both the Berkeley Fast File System, now called
>"ufs," .....

Heheeeheee... why not just re-distribute BSD tapes, and avoid all
this "immense amount of work" ?? :-)

>Any C compiler provided with V.4 must implement both ANSI C and some
>AT&T-defined extensions.

What the hell are the AT&T-defined extensions ??? [Nooo.. not again]

>Shared libraries are now dynamically-linked, to addresses chosen by the
>main program...

Is this the SUN's idea of the "shared libraries", or is it yet another
style ?? Perhaps they should borrow the VMS sharable library format. It
has been out there for about 10 years or so.

>"Message management" has been added.  The user can select a format for
>error messages by setting environment variables.  If all components of
>a message are turned on, the message can occupy several lines, and the
>information can include who was running, what operation was attempted,
>why it failed, and what the suggested fix is.

Something like this perhaps ???

% bagbiter
?KSH-W-IVWORD, unrecognised command word - check validity and spelling
 \bagbiter\
%

>"Mail has been completely re-architected."

What portion ?? The UA or MTA or both ??

>YP (NFS yellow pages) is considered deficient and will be revised after
>V.4.0.

Rest of the world knew of this, but glad they discovered it too... :-)

>The Open Look window "shine mark" was inspired by cartoonists.

Why do I think that it is somehow fitting ?? :-)

>They don't know or haven't decided whether Open Look widgets will be
>donated to MIT for addition to the X software base.

Probably not... That would imply too much "openness".

>AT&T is focusing now on the generic portion of the ABI, getting it
>"right."

Famous last words.

>A UNIX-tm must conform to (as yet unspecified) quality standards.
>Perhaps auditing procedures.

Imagine AT&T agents swarming a building... "OPEN UP... THIS IS AN
AT&T AUDIT... WE ARE HERE TO INSPECT EVERYTHING... GIVE UP YOUR
SOURCE TAPES AND DOCUMENTATION... NOW !!!"

> Andrew Klossner

Thnx for a comprehensive description Andrew... I had a great time
reading it... It is full of ideas for a whole comic book... I wish
I had the time.

oz
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