Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site cuae2.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxt!houxm!ihnp4!mgnetp!hw3b!wnuxb!cuae2!heiby From: heiby@cuae2.UUCP (Ron Heiby) Newsgroups: net.micro.att Subject: Re: Several System 5.2 questions Message-ID: <363@cuae2.UUCP> Date: Thu, 11-Jul-85 13:17:04 EDT Article-I.D.: cuae2.363 Posted: Thu Jul 11 13:17:04 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 13-Jul-85 09:12:43 EDT References: <2067@ucf-cs.UUCP> Reply-To: heiby@cuae2.UUCP (Ron Heiby) Organization: AT&T-IS, /app/eng, Lisle, IL Lines: 107 Here's the answer to as many of Tim's questions as I could come up with quickly. Some questions related to BSD features which I am not qualified to address. In article <2067@ucf-cs.UUCP> tim@ucf-cs.UUCP (Tim Curry) writes: >1) What is the current release of System 5? The currently available version for the 3B2/300 is: UNIX System V Release 2.0 3B2 Version 2 AT&T has announced a paging release for the 3B2 which will be available shortly and be (I believe) Release 2.1. >2) termcap vs. terminfo vs. curses. "You sure ask a lot of questions." Anyway, SVR2 has libcurses.a and uses the terminfo database. /etc/termcap is still delivered for software that has not been recompiled to use terminfo. Termcap is not likely to die completely as long as there are many systems that do not yet have terminfo. Although, new development should use terminfo, as it is technically superior. Termcap is one big file with all the terminal descriptions. Terminfo is a hierarchy of files, where each file describes one terminal, hence it's more efficient. Whether termcap or terminfo is used depends on the library code with which the application was linked. Most of the other questions can be answered by the terminfo manual. >3) nroff/troff and "man" command. The nroff and troff commands (and I think man) are in the Documenter's Workbench, which is a seperately priced package. Man files for all of the section 1-n stuff is not supplied, as AT&T feels that a machine of the class of a 3B2 does not generally have enough free disk space to devote to that kind of material and the information can be had from the paper copy, anyway. Documenter's Workbench comes with tbl, eqn, neqn, col, etc. >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? The LP Spooler package is a seperately priced package. The command to queue something for printing is named "lp" and is found in /usr/bin. There is no "printcap" that I know of. Each printer has an interface file (which is generally a shell script) which handles set-up for each print job. >5) virtual memory/record locking "All" versions of UNIX have supported "virtual memory" (with exceptions like the iAPX-86 architecture, which doesn't do memory management). What is new is "Demand Paging" rather than "Swapping". System V with demand paging is currently available for the DEC VAX and AT&T 3B20 systems and has been announced for the 3B2 and 3B15, although it is not yet available there. It is extremely unlikely that any implementation of UNIX for AT&T PC 6300 machines (or compatibles) would include demand paging, as there is no hardware support for it in the iAPX-86 architecture. Those systems would continue to be swap based. AT&T has committed to supporting the /usr/group standard for file and record locking across its product line. The currently available 3B2 release supports the "Advisory" locking, which is what most applications really want. The paging release on the 3B2 supports the "Mandatory" locking, as well. >6) is "make" standard? I assume that you mean "bundled". No, I believe that "make" comes in the "Extended Software Generation" package. >7) What is the toolchest? The AT&T Software Toolchest is a system which provides electronic distribution of purchased software. Source code is licensed for a fee and delivered via uucp. The license is not for a single machine, but for every machine in (at least location, probably organization, can't remember). Binary resale licenses are available with no per-sale royalty. See your AT&T Account Executive for more information. >8) Is there an (MS|PC)-DOS C cross compiler available I know of now MS-DOS C cross compiler being sold. Sounds good though. >9) Does anybody know if I can buy a CSH for the 3B2 from any source? I know of no source for CSH. System V Release 2.0 introduced "Shell Layers", which many Berkelyites sneer at, but which I find to be quite useful. It is a facility for having multiple logical terminal sessions multiplexed over the same connection. See the User Manual for more info [shl(1)]. Regarding the csh capabilities that you want, you should look into the Korn Shell (ksh) which is available through the Toolchest. I use nothing else. My guess about csh not being available from AT&T is that it is rather a botch, changing quite a few things just for the sake of changing them and is thus quite incompatible with Bourne. Korn, being 99 and 44/100 % upward compatible with Bourne does not have this problem. As to any other BSD developments: They are all known of and looked at by AT&T developers. Some appear in System V, like "cat -v" and "ls -RadCxmnlogrtyucpFbqisf" and "mailx" (alias Mail). The thing to remember is that Berkeley is (supposed to be) in the education business. They do a good job by letting students experiment. AT&T is in the stable computing environment business. We do a good job by making darn sure that what we do doesn't break something (like a shell script or worse) and that we spend our efforts spending resources on the most important/needed enhancements first. >10) what is available? See your AT&T Account Executive. Binary packages are available for the 3B2. Prices are in the price book. >11) What does it take to get a software package sanctioned by AT&T for > System 5.2? By "sanctioned", do you mean in the catalog, AT&T co-labling, or what? For any of that, you need to talk with the AT&T Independent Software Vendor program people. Your AT&T Account Executive should be able to find the right contact. Have fun. -- Ron Heiby heiby@cuae2.UUCP (via ihnp4) AT&T-IS, /app/eng, Lisle, IL (312) 810-6109