Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!nbires!boulder!forys From: forys@boulder.UUCP (Jeff Forys) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.lans Subject: Re: talk problems between SUN and uVAX - (nf) Message-ID: <300@boulder.UUCP> Date: Sat, 10-Jan-87 03:42:08 EST Article-I.D.: boulder.300 Posted: Sat Jan 10 03:42:08 1987 Date-Received: Sat, 10-Jan-87 09:35:43 EST References: <6300001@iaoobelix.UUCP> <16784@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> Reply-To: forys@boulder.UUCP (Jeff Forys) Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder Lines: 25 Summary: 4.2 and 4.3 talk not really compatible In article <16784@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> Erik E. Fair writes: > "talk" as distributed with 4.2 BSD UNIX is a badly written program. I dont know, certainly by todays standards it's poorly written, but it was probably the first of its kind and it did work pretty well in an all-vax environment... > I am given to understand that the new version which is distributed with > 4.3 BSD UNIX is much better behaved (and among other things, it is also > backward compatible). True, 4.3final `talk' finally speaks in network byte order, but it's not backward compatible -- in fact, it even uses a different port. It just *looks* backward compatible because the old talk daemon (well, actually inetd) hangs out on the old port (517) but tells you to respond using `/usr/old/talk' (same old 4.2 talk speaking VAX-ese). The new talkd sits on a different port (518), and says to use `talk' when responding. Of course, all this is hidden from the user and everything looks compatible. Clever idea. In my opinion, this *had* to be done... everyone remember hacking 4.2 talk (oh yeah, with that UDP checksum fix) to speak in a mixed machine environment. Whew! --- Jeff Forys @ UC/Boulder Engineering Research Comp Cntr (303-492-6096) Forys@Boulder.Colorado.Edu -or- ..!{hao|nbires}!boulder!forys