VP/ix vs Merge

[Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX]

In article <2473 at netmbx.UUCP> blume at netmbx.UUCP (Heiko Blume) writes:
:well, at least vp/ix is allowed to modify the keyboard driver under xenix 386
:which can cause problems if it crashes or if you kill it. on the hann(g)over
:cebit fair i killed vp/ix running procomm which caused the keyboard to f*ck up
:when i switched back to the virtual concole on which it was running. i had to
:cold boot the machine because i couldnt switch back to the other consoles, 
:the response to alt-f* was ;c or something like that...
:i asked a guy at sco's booth and he confirmed that vp/ix can modify the keyboard
:driver. not very sophisticated...
:i'd like to hear from someone using merge if he could check this one out.

First off, if one needs to kill a vp/ix process, use kill -1 only.
If for some reason the console keyboard does get left on scan-code mode,
you can stil use any serial terminals you might have to bring down the
system in an orderly fashion.

Ideally, the kernel should restore the keyboard function when a process
exits just as it closes files and releases memory.

My understanding is, Merge was chosen for Open Desktop because it allows
DOS graphics applications to run in a X window.  I'm sure vp/ix can be
modified to run a text app under xterm, but that's not the same thing.