dalamb@qucis.UUCP (David Lamb) (04/16/88)
Every so often someone says ``GNU Emacs won't run on segmented architectures like the 80286.'' Can someone summarize why, briefly? Are there a lot of data structures that have to be larger than a segment? I have friends who go to a lot of effort to fit large (software-paged) data structures into small machines; I'd have thought the distinction between segmented and non-segmented versions of data structures could be hidden behind a layer of macros.
chip@ateng.UUCP (Chip Salzenberg) (04/22/88)
In article <66@qucis.UUCP> dalamb@qucis.UUCP (David Lamb) writes: >Every so often someone says ``GNU Emacs won't run on segmented architectures >like the 80286.'' Can someone summarize why, briefly? Are there a lot >of data structures that have to be larger than a segment? Entire buffers are held in contiguous areas. This is not impossible to kludge around, if you can't escape the horrible '286 fate; but it's hard enough. So why hasn't it been done? I suppose that programmers good enough to do this conversion have enough clout to get '386 machines. :-) -- Chip Salzenberg "chip@ateng.UU.NET" or "codas!ateng!chip" A T Engineering My employer may or may not agree with me. "I must create a system or be enslaved by another man's." -- Blake
moran-william@CS.YALE.EDU (William Moran) (05/11/88)
In article <246@ateng.UUCP> chip@ateng.UUCP (Chip Salzenberg) writes: >Entire buffers are held in contiguous areas. This is not impossible to >kludge around, if you can't escape the horrible '286 fate; but it's hard >enough. > >So why hasn't it been done? I suppose that programmers good enough to do >this conversion have enough clout to get '386 machines. :-) > Also, think about what the performance of GNU Emacs would be like on a 286 machine...particularly given the sorts of compromises one would be likely to make to get it to run in the first place. If your time were worth anything, it would probably be cheaper to get a '386 machine than to do the port, although it would make the person who ported Emacs something of a legend (what price fame?) ;) William L. Moran Jr. moran@{yale.arpa, cs.yale.edu, yalecs.bitnet} ...{ihnp4!hsi,decvax}!yale!moran My ambition is to write the High Life column for the Spectator; hell, I'd settle for writing the Low Life column.