4BSD is dead???

[Larry McVoy]

In article <13200008 at gorgo.UUCP> bsteve at gorgo.UUCP writes:
>Lets get it all straight. CMU has an implementation of a modularized os kernel
>that is inspired by UNIX and its numerous parents. They have separated the the
>execution path of a process into a task (consisting of pieces atomic to the
>processor) and an execution thread. It currently (MACH-1) offers source level
>compatibility with 4.3BSD UNIX. This may not always be there..., it is there
>now as a building block. Ultimiatly the project should yield an OS for the
>distributed / parallel processing environment that includes those things that
>people have learned over the past few years and have often put into UNIX.
>That's it. 4BSD isn't dead, it has reproduced.
>
>EDITORIAL COMMENTARY - I don't think that we should utterly dump 4BSD.
>On the other hand, if marry it then we are just like the JCL lectroids,
>ignoring new ideas and clinging to what we already know.
>
>  Steve Blasingame (Oklahoma City)
>  ihnp4!occrsh!gorgo!bsteve
>  attmail!sblasingame

1) It is *binary* compatible with 4.[23]. I quote from "MACH-1 KERNEL 
   INTERFACE MANUAL" by Baron, Rashid, Tevanian, & Young: "On all VAX
   hardware MACH-1 is binary compatible with 4.2 bsd".

2) 4BSD is dead.  It's a gawd-awful kludge & everyone who has looked at the
   code (should & usually) agrees.  At a recent presentation by the Sequent
   company the speaker asked first "How many people have looked at the 4.3
   kernel source?" and second "How many did it on a full stomach?"  I rest
   my case in this respect.

3) MACH-1 is more than a distributed/parallel system.  It is compatible and
   provides the functionality of 4BSD and it does it in a logical/rational/
   extensible way (as opposed to the quick fix hacking I've come to expect).

4) MACH-1 is not alone. Ken Thompson & crew are working on a similar system
   at Bell Labs...  Who knows what will come out on top...
-- 
Larry McVoy
-----------
Arpa:  mcvoy at rsch.wisc.edu                              
Uucp:  {seismo, topaz, harvard, ihnp4}!uwvax!geowhiz!larry      

"Just remember, wherever you go -- there you are."
 	-Buckaroo Banzai