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From: tim@ucf-cs.UUCP (Tim Curry)
Newsgroups: net.micro.att
Subject: Several System 5.2 questions
Message-ID: <2067@ucf-cs.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 8-Jul-85 13:31:20 EDT
Article-I.D.: ucf-cs.2067
Posted: Mon Jul  8 13:31:20 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 12-Jul-85 00:40:11 EDT
Organization: Univ. of Central Florida, Orlando
Lines: 102

My configuration: 3B2/300 with System 5.0.5 bought Sept. 1984.
	Anyone outside of AT&T with a 3B2 system been upgraded to 5.2?
	How many 3B2 systems are there outside AT&T?

I debated with myself whether to break this into several small postings
or one large one.  I've opted for one large article.  I hope that someone
with all the answers makes it through all the questions.  Our software
development will require many different changes depending on what a real
System 5.2 looks like.  My account executive is a friendly guy and attempts
to be helpful but just can't get me the kind of answers I need to make
programming decisions and purchase packages.  I need to know what I will be
seeing if I can ever get upgraded to 5.2.  I am hoping that the majority of
my bad reactions to system 5 vs. BSD are related to the fact that version 0.5
was a quick release to get the machines out the door and version 2 (2.1,2.2)
will be a complete version of UNIX.

1) What is the current release of System 5?  I see some postings in this news
	group with 5.2.2.  Anyone answering subsequent questions please
	indicate what version they are refering to.

2) termcap vs. terminfo vs. curses.  Our software uses screen manipulations
	throughout but system 5.0.5 doesn't have the -lcurses or -ltermcap
	I have written my own code with our own termcap-like file but
	would much prefer using the system standard.  What will 5.2 have?
	What is the difference between termcap and terminfo?  Will both
	stay around or is termcap likely to die.  Does 4.3BSD stick with
	termcap or move to terminfo?  Do the curses routines work with both
	termcap and terminfo?  Are the curses routines compatable between
	4.xBSD and S5?  Does terminfo have graphic character information
	to allow real boxes to be drawn vs. the box(stdwin,'|','-') type.
	Does terminfo distinquish attribute modes by name rather than function.
	i.e. "Reverse video" rather than "stand-out mode" which might be "half
	intensity" for a different terminal.

3) nroff/troff and "man" command.  I have none of these.  I believe I heard
	that troff might be unbundled to either the documentor's workbench
	or writer's workbench but I would think that nroff and man should
	be standard on each system.  If nroff is available, then are neqn,
	table, col etc. also available.  If these aren't standard, what
	package do I have to buy to get them?

4) is lp (line printer spooler) an optional package or standard?  Our software
	makes a distinction between a "display" to the terminal and a "report"
	to hardcopy.  We popen (pipe open) our output for the report to lp
	but if this is not standard, then I'm not sure where to send it.
	Is there a "printcap" file that describes the command sequences for
	printers like in 4.2BSD?

5) virtual memory/record locking - I understand that 5.2 does finally
	incorporate virtual memory but is that part of the requirements
	for ALL versions of 5.2? e.g. When (or if) the XENIX version that
	is 5.2 compatable on the IBM PC is implemented, will it support virtual
	memory so that I can freely fork and execl etc. to my hearts content
	without worring about a 256k system running out of memory and hence
	having to try some overlay techniques or something?!?  Likewise, will
	all record locking calls be supported identically on all 5.2 compatable
	versions?

6) is "make" standard?  Does "make" still only come with the C compiler package?
	When distributing software (even binarys only) "make" is the usual
	way to do it.  I suppose that shell scripts can be set up but still ...

7) What is the toolchest?  I have been off of the net for 9 months and just
	caught the tail end of disscussions about the toolchest when I started
	reading USENET again.  Where can I get details?

8) Is there an (MS|PC)-DOS C cross compiler available so that I can do my
	compile work on the 3B2 and down-load the executable to a PC machine.
	I would think that AT&T would have such a beast since the 6300 is
	a DOS machine.

9) Does anybody know if I can buy a CSH for the 3B2 from any source?  I
	understand that the bourne shell under 5.2 has some job control
	finally (could somebody tell me how this interface works?  Is it
	like the csh with ctl-z, fb, bg etc.?) and the shell functions are
	probably more powerfull than aliasing in the csh but I desperately
	miss the history, push/pop directorys, ~ expansion, and ctl-w word
	delete.  I use these things EVERY SESSION that I'm on a BSD system.
	I simply don't understand why AT&T is hesitant to make the BSD software
	available at least as an optional package.  I'm 99% sure that they use
	a lot of BSD software themselves!!  I'd like a lot of programs that
	I miss.  Since Berkeley is not trying to make a profit from BSD and
	the BSD enhancements make a considerably nicer user interface, why
	aren't these things available?  Furthermore, I know there is a package
	that gives System 5.2 support under 4.2BSD but why not the reverse
	from AT&T?  This would allow the best of both worlds to be available.

10) what is available?  Perhaps the last statement was over harsh.  Where can
	I get a list of what software is available from AT&T and its cost?
	The one price I got for the Documentor's Workbench was a Source price.
	Are binary prices available for the unbundled protions of UNIX?

11) What does it take to get a software package sanctioned by AT&T for
	System 5.2?

			Tim Curry
			USENET:  decvax!ucf-cs!tim
			ARPANET: tim.ucf-cs@csnet-relay
-- 
Tim Curry
USENET:  decvax!ucf-cs!tim
ARPANET: tim.ucf-cs@csnet-relay