notes@ucf-cs.UUCP (12/03/84)
For a while I have been reading the info posted in this group to find out more about OS-9. However I must admit that except fragmented info. here and there, I have not had any luck. Would someone please post or mail me some info. about what does OS-9 look like (eg Unix, CPM, etc), and what are the available micro computers that runs it, and if there is any user group that one can get more techincal info. on that. I am mainly interested in its suitability (partially or fully) for a class in the design and implementation of OS for micros. (Do not get me wrong I do not want to re do it, but to use it as a case study and in anotomical manner). Any addresses, references, techincal info, and whatever you may think I need to know is really appreciated. Thanks a lot. --Abbas P.S.: You can reach me at "birjandi at ucf-cs", and my physical address is: Abbas Birjandi Computer Science Dept. University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816
emjej@uokvax.UUCP (12/13/84)
/***** uokvax:net.micro.6809 / ea!steve / 9:44 pm Dec 12, 1984 */ [OS-9] has several features that limit its UNIX compatibility. There are no filesystem links. It was deemed that this was a possible source of filesystem unreliability and they were omitted. This may change in future versions. If you look at the layout of file descriptor sectors, you'll get a BIG hint that links are in the pipeline (?! :->) -- there's a field in there called "link count." All it should take (apart from symbolic links) is a trivial tweak to RBF and probably a I$LINK system call to do the obvious thing. I hope they do it--that's probably all that keeps one from porting the MH mailer tools to OS-9. "They couldn't match the love that Ma put into hers so they settled for cleaner design and Speed, lots of speed...". While agreeing with this in spirit and enjoying the humor, I'd definitely bet that OS-9 is a labor of love. It takes lotsa guts to go up against Unix, the OS/360 of the 80's, especially with the historical examples of Digital Research and Intel to show that all it takes is being first, no matter how sorry, so that you have an interval during which people develop software for your product because it's all there is, after which people buy it because of all the software and people write software to run under it because of the customer base. /* ---------- */ James Jones