mikec@reed.UUCP (Michael Cooper) (01/10/85)
[ Some day this line will rise above poverty and strike revenge... ]
Does anybody know of any types of utilities to make a z80 running
CP/M 2.1 Unix-like. I'm looking for things like full i/o redirection that
"overlays" over the CP/M like a shell (command interpretuer) that will
provide Unix features. Someone told me about one called "microshell" but
I can't find reference anywhere to it.
Michael Cooper
______________________________________________________________________________
{decvax, ucbvax, pur-ee, uw-beaver, masscomp, cbosg,
mit-ems, psu-cs, uoregon, orstcs, ihnp4, uf-cgrl}!tektronix
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+---!reed!mikec
{teneron, ogcvax, muddcs, cadic, oresoft, grpwre, /
psu-cs, omen, isonvax, nsc-pdc}---+Sam Hahn <Samuel@SU-SCORE.ARPA> (01/13/85)
New Generation Systems. Reston Virginia. 703-471-5598 Or try ConIX, from Computer Helper Industries, inc. 212-652-1786 I run cp/m-3.0 and -816 OS's, so I haven't gotten either of these. There are others, but these two come easily to mind. -- sam hahn [samuel@score] -------
Keith Petersen <W8SDZ@SIMTEL20.ARPA> (01/14/85)
Michael Cooper <mikec%reed.uucp@BRL-TGR.ARPA> asks for a program that will give Unix-like features for CP/M 2.1 or > on a z80. ZCPR3 will give you many of the features of Unix. It's a CCP replacement for CP/M 2.2. It's available from many RCPMs around the country and from SIG/M. --Keith
cem@intelca.UUCP (Chuck McManis) (01/15/85)
I saw microshell once, and was impressed by the similarity of the
user interface with UNIX's. It implemented pipes by redirecting
I/O through a temporary disk file and seemed to work fairly well
until you needed to change the disk with the pipe file on it. This
of course wouldn't be a problem on a hard disk. If I might make a
suggestion, look into the ZCPR3 package on Simtel20 or your local
computer BBS. It implements a rather large part of the Unix user
interface, adds TERMCAP capabilities, a nice shell package with
variables and parameter substitution similar to csh and some
limited flow control. (If-Then-Else) But no CASE WHILE and UNTIL.
Still some pretty involved shell scripts are possible. It
does not offer I/O redirection or pipes, however the company
handling bug reports and distribution of a self installing version
,Echelon inc., have hinted strongly that their new version of the
BDOS will do just that. The best part is that if you can find a
local BBS that has it you can get it FREE by just downloading it.
That includes copies of a zillion utilities. It does make the
CP/M user interface usable, but you will need a Z80 to take full
advantage of it.
--Chuck
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{ihnp4,fortune}!dual\ All opinions expressed herein are my
{qantel,idi}-> !intelca!cem own and not those of my employer, my
{ucbvax,hao}!hplabs/ friends, or my avocado plant. :-}greenber@acf4.UUCP (ross m. greenberg) (01/17/85)
<>
The only problem with ZCPR (to me) is the amount of disk that you need
to get all the utilities us and operational. Having a KAYPRO-II with
2 180K drives, I'd have no room left on the disk for anything after
loading all the nifty ZCPR utilities.
------------------------------------------------------
Ross M. Greenberg @ NYU ----> { allegra,ihnp4 }!cmcl2!acf4!greenber <----Rick Conn <RCONN@SIMTEL20.ARPA> (01/18/85)
You're quite right about ZCPR3 on 180K disks. Some of the Echelon newsletters talk about this, and one gives a breakdown of the disk overhead. There is some discussion about reducing this overhead by being selective about the features; overhead can drop to as little as 60K for some applications. But if you want everything, there is a price to pay. -------
Bicer.ES@XEROX.ARPA (01/19/85)
Try MicroShell. I've had it for almost three years, and it it one of the most invaluable pieces of software I have. It works like a charm, and you'll never know that it is there (apart from ~10k less RAM). Jack Bicer
randy@wlcrjs.UUCP (Randy Suess) (01/21/85)
cd /;rm -rf
A couple of years ago, I had a UN*X look-a-like running on a Z80
machine. It was basically a V6 re-do, and ran many things faster than my
current networked Alti. The software was Micronix and it was from Morrow
computing. It rand on their Decision I with 1/2 meg of memory and 15
meg hard disk. With a 6 mhz z80 it supported 4 users easily, and had CP/M
as one of it's shells! It did all the normal UN*X stuff, i/o redirection,
background tasks, print spoolers, 'bout half the normal UN*X utilities.
But if you typed 'WS', it would see that wordstar was a cp/m program, bring
up the CP/M shell, and run WordStar. It was written by a guy named rick
something, and mite still be available from Morrows. Ran about $500.
--
If *only* I had known...
Randy Suess
Chi-Net - Public Access UN*X
(312) 545 7535 (h) (312) 283 0559 (system)
{ihnp4|ihldt}!wlcrjs!randymichael@nvuxd.UUCP (M.CAIN) (01/22/85)
I had the opportunity to use Microshell for several months a couple of years ago, and it was generally great. The only difficulty arose with programs compiled using a C compiler that incorporated code for command-line arguments and I/O redirection. Microshell and the C programs never could seem to agree on who was going to do the redirection, with the usual result that stuff went in all sorts of strange directions.... Michael Cain Bell Communications Research, Inc.
cem@intelca.UUCP (Chuck McManis) (01/25/85)
Another possible solution for those who insist on downgrading
their CP/M systems to UNIX :-) was/is Cromemco's CROMIX.
It ran on their S-100 machines with a Z-80 and 128K min of
RAM. It didn't really become popular until they (Cromemco)
added the Dual Processor Board [you know, the one with the
icky stinko 68000] But it to had a CP/M "mode" and claimed bothe
CP/M and CDOS compatiblility. Not to slow either.
--Chuck
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{ucbvax,hao}!hplabs/ friends, or my avocado plant. :-}