ast@cs.vu.nl (08/24/89)
Sometime around Sept./Oct. I will post the diffs for V1.4b, Bruce Evans' improved protected mode kernel plus lots of changes to utilities and libraries that I have accumulated. After that I start on V2.0, a POSIX compatible version (sort of). Thus there will no doubt be lots of discussion about POSIX in the coming months. This message is to get you started. POSIX (pronounced pahz icks, not poe six), is an IEEE project standardizing UNIX. The idea is that a conforming POSIX application can be recompiled on any conforming POSIX system and work. With some luck, MINIX V2.0 will be close enough to a conforming system that conforming applications should compile and run on MINIX too (if they fit in 64K + 64K). There is one annoying problem that I see, but let me keep you in suspense for the time being. POSIX consists of a set of related standards: P1003.1 - system calls P1003.2 - shell and utilities P1003.3 - verification P1003.4 - realtime extensions P1003.5 - Ada language bindings P1003.6 - Security P1003.x - Other topics It would be nice if MINIX conformed to P1003.1 and P1003.2. I will do the conversion of the system calls. I doubt that I will have time to do the shell and utilities (P1003.2), but all help is welcome. Addition of ANSI C libraries is also welcome. The reason for my posting this now is that in order to participate in the subsequent discussions in an intelligent way, you will have to have the standards at hand. P1003.1 is now final and has been published by IEEE. It can be ordered from: Publication Sales IEEE Service Center P.O. Box 1331 445 Hoes Lane Piscataway NJ 08854-1331 Telephone: (201) 981-0060 They take credit card orders over the phone. The P1003.1 standard costs $20 for IEEE members (have your member number handy) and $36 for nonmembers. The P1003.2 and P1003.3 standards have not been approved yet. You can order the draft standards from the IEEE Standards office at (201) 562 3800. They cost $40.80 and $23.20, respectively. I have now read P1003.1 quite carefully. It is a highly readable document, unlike the ISO OSI standards, which, I studied in minute detail and found totally incomprehensible, even after 4 or 5 readings. Furthermore the P1003.1 standard has an appendix which explains why they did what they did. All in all, if you are interested in the future of MINIX of the future of UNIX, I highly recommend ordering and reading P1003.1. I just ordered the P1003.2 and P1003.3 draft standards myself, so I don't know how good they are. Virtually every computer manufacturer is committed to supporting POSIX, so in a few years, many of the headaches caused by 4.3/System V will be gone: POSIX-conformant applications will run on any UNIX system. Andy Tanenbaum (ast@cs.vu.nl)
henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) (08/24/89)
In article <3044@ast.cs.vu.nl> ast@cs.vu.nl () writes: >All in all, if you are interested in the future of MINIX of the future of >UNIX, I highly recommend ordering and reading P1003.1. I just ordered >the P1003.2 and P1003.3 draft standards myself, so I don't know how good they >are... Beware that 1003.2 may still be somewhat changeable; they've been trying to stabilize it, but the fact is that they tackled a huge job with 1003.2, and it's resisting being rushed. That is, current drafts are not necessarily close approximations to the final standard. I second Andy's recommendation of 1003.1; it's pretty well done. -- V7 /bin/mail source: 554 lines.| Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology 1989 X.400 specs: 2200+ pages. | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu
housel@en.ecn.purdue.edu (Peter S. Housel) (08/25/89)
In article <1989Aug24.162417.115@utzoo.uucp>, henry@utzoo (Henry Spencer) writes: >In article <3044@ast.cs.vu.nl> ast@cs.vu.nl () writes: >>All in all, if you are interested in the future of MINIX of the future of >>UNIX, I highly recommend ordering and reading P1003.1. I just ordered >>the P1003.2 and P1003.3 draft standards myself, so I don't know how good they >>are... >Beware that 1003.2 may still be somewhat changeable; they've been trying to >stabilize it, but the fact is that they tackled a huge job with 1003.2, and >it's resisting being rushed. That is, current drafts are not necessarily >close approximations to the final standard. > >I second Andy's recommendation of 1003.1; it's pretty well done. How does one get a copy of P1003.2 and P1003.3? Through Global Engineering Documents, perhaps? If so, for how much? Given prices I have seen quoted for draft standards from GED, 1003.2 and 1003.3 may be out of the price range of most students and other casual participants for the moment. I haven't seen the original article, so this may be redundant, but IEEE Std. 1003.1-1988 is available from IEEE Service Center, 445 Hoes Lane, P.O.B. 1331, Piscataway, NJ 08855-1331 USA (or IEEE Canada, 7061 Yonge Street, Thornhill, Ontario, L3T 2A6 Canada). Phone orders (from within the continental US) are accepted at 1-800-678-IEEE. The 1003.1 standard is product number SH12211, and costs $32.00 ($16.00 for one copy for IEEE members). $4.00 S+H for orders under $50.00. -Peter S. Housel- housel@ecn.purdue.edu ...!pur-ee!housel