Xref: utzoo comp.misc:3555 comp.sys.misc:1714 comp.os.cpm:1765
Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!pyrnj!pyrdc!uunet!vsi!friedl
From: friedl@vsi.UUCP (Stephen J. Friedl)
Newsgroups: comp.misc,comp.sys.misc,comp.os.cpm
Subject: Re: Z-80 Unix?
Summary: Whitesmiths 
Keywords: z-80 unix
Message-ID: <865@vsi.UUCP>
Date: 24 Sep 88 17:30:27 GMT
References: <278@pte.UUCP> <1466@ssc.UUCP> <427@ucrmath.UUCP>
Organization: V-Systems, Inc. -- Santa Ana, CA
Lines: 30

In article <427@ucrmath.UUCP>, jantypas@ucrmath.UUCP (John Antypas) writes:
> >
> >Whitesmiths may have done IDRIS for the Z80.
> 
> Indeed they did, but I wouldn't exactly call it Unix.  Our labs use Idris
> because we must, and the C alone is semi-Unix-like if you look at it
> just the right way.  They rewrote literally 90% of the libraries.  Truly
> non-portable code!

In the early days, Whitesmiths felt they were In Charge of C
programming.  Above, `rewrote 90% of the libraries' means that
the usage and function names were different as well.  For example:

		putfmt("The number is %i\n", i);

replaced your good old printf.  After a time, they released a
compatible library, but it was likely due to outrage.  I have
never in the meantime seen such a blatant example of gratuitous
incompatibility.  What is surprising is that this came from 
the man who cowrite _Elements of Programming Style_, P.J.
Plauger.  Sad.

My memory is a bit dated on the details, corrections welcome.

     Steve

-- 
Steve Friedl    V-Systems, Inc.  +1 714 545 6442    3B2-kind-of-guy
friedl@vsi.com     {backbones}!vsi.com!friedl    attmail!vsi!friedl
------[I'm on vacation in Ohio from 26-Sep to 10-Oct 1988]----------