*BSD News Article 68033


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From: juengst@saph1.physik.uni-bonn.de (Henry G. Juengst)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.misc,comp.unix.bsd.misc
Subject: Re: How to delete files within C programs
Date: 8 May 1996 22:28:42 GMT
Organization: Institut fuer Strahlen- und Kernphysik
Lines: 71
Sender: juengst@saph2.physik.uni-bonn.de (Henry G. Juengst)
Distribution: world
Message-ID: <4mr76q$t8i@news.rhrz.uni-bonn.de>
References: <Oum-El-Kheir.Benkahla-3004961724540001@mac-ugm-3.imag.fr> <4mpo0f$57r@innocence.interface-business.de> <4mq4o3$qkh@news.rhrz.uni-bonn.de> <4mqr1s$5ou@web.nmti.com>
Reply-To: juengst@saph1.physik.uni-bonn.de
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Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.unix.misc:22540 comp.unix.bsd.misc:947


In article <4mqr1s$5ou@web.nmti.com>, peter@nmti.com (Peter da Silva) writes:
>In article <4mq4o3$qkh@news.rhrz.uni-bonn.de>,
>Henry G. Juengst <juengst@saph1.physik.uni-bonn.de> wrote:
>> Nice to see that you compare unix with MSDOS. Please, more! :-)))
>
>OK, let's compare it with VMS, which is several years younger than UNIX,
>and so tied into specific details of the VAX memory management model that
>to run it on an Alpha they have to drop to 32-bit mode... and the Alpha
>was designed with running VMS as one of its goals!
>
>I undertand they're finally getting VMS to 64 bits. Reminds me of how
>long it took RSX-11 to make use of the split I&D model on the PDP-11,
>after UNIX had been using it for years.

Nonsense. You don't know what you are talking about. And your statements
are not clear.

The Alpha processor has been used as 64-bit processor since its first
days running VMS. 64-bit means calculations with 64 bits. Only the
virtual address space was (OpenVMS 6.x) limited to 32 bits. And this
is no real limit for most applications. BTW the address space
was limited to 31 bits for applications. Anyway, this is past.

You did not mention that DEC did include a migration tool for VAX (CISC
architecture) binaries to make them running as binaries on the Alpha (RISC
architecture). Additionally they added an assembler for VAX assembler code
running on the Alpha processor.

Source code compatibility is no problem between OpenVMS/VAX and OpenVMS/AXP.

I have used the binary migration tool (VEST) sometimes now and even an old
image from 1989 works. Now, ask DEC's unix users. You will find enough
ultrix users who would like to do this on their new DEC unix Alpha machines.
Many of them are fighting with the great unix source code compatibility,
which is in reality only a dream. All those "ports" of applications for
different unixes are speaking for themself. Perhaps you should just try to
start an image which needs an old shared library on your unix chest.
You will see how modern it is.

Unix magazines are full of "64 bit unix" advertisements now. Why did
it take so long? Because, unix was never written as an architecture
independant system. Have a look into the NetBSD sources before and after
the Alpha architecture was included. Tell Chris G. Demetriou that this
job was (is!) trival.

>
>All other things being equal, a simple high-level O/S design is inherently
>more flexible. UNIX runs on pure 16 bit systems (64K code space, what people
>call "8 bit" systems today) all the way up to the latest 64-bit monsters.

You confound the width of address space with the width of the data bus.

>
>What else can you claim that of?
>
>
>-- 
>Peter da Silva    (NIC: PJD2)      `-_-'             1601 Industrial Boulevard
>Bailey Network Management           'U`             Sugar Land, TX  77487-5013
>+1 713 274 5180         "Har du kramat din varg idag?"                     USA
>Bailey pays for my technical expertise.        My opinions probably scare them

Henry

--
juengst@saph1.physik.uni-bonn.de         [131.220.161.1]  (Internet)
omni:.de.uni-bonn.physik.saph1::juengst                   (DECnet/OSI, phase V)
saph1::juengst                           [26.358]         (DECnet, phase IV)

Any opinions in this mail are my own.