markham@tsc.cs.unc.edu (Andrew Markham) (02/28/89)
This summer I may work with a project in which a fully developed system is ported over to the Mac from a Sun running 4.3 BSD with XWindows. The problem is, since A/UX is System V with BSD extensions, there could be a lot more work in store for us than if we could get a hold of a 4.3 BSD compatible OS. A long time ago (in a distant galaxy), I heard that there was a possibility of the MACH OS being ported to the Mac and I was wondering if anyone knows this for a fact and if so, are there any dates regarding its release? Also, I assume that XWindows would also be made available for MACH. Well, you get the main idea. If you have any information regarding the above, please respond via e-mail or post to comp.sys.mac. Thanks for any and all help provided, Andy Markham <markham@sunmail.cs.unc.edu> Computer Science Department University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
erc@pai.UUCP (Eric Johnson) (03/01/89)
In article <7009@thorin.cs.unc.edu>, markham@tsc.cs.unc.edu (Andrew Markham) writes: > This summer I may work with a project in which a fully developed system is > ported over to the Mac from a Sun running 4.3 BSD with XWindows. The problem > is, since A/UX is System V with BSD extensions, there could be a lot more > work in store for us than if we could get a hold of a 4.3 BSD compatible OS. > > A long time ago (in a distant galaxy), I heard that there was a possibility > of the MACH OS being ported to the Mac and I was wondering if anyone knows this > for a fact and if so, are there any dates regarding its release? Also, I > assume that XWindows would also be made available for MACH. Well, you get > the main idea. If you have any information regarding the above, please > respond via e-mail or post to comp.sys.mac. > > Thanks for any and all help provided, > > Andy Markham > <markham@sunmail.cs.unc.edu> > Computer Science Department > University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill While A/UX is System V, it does have BSD extensions, especially in the area of networking and inter-process communication. In fact, it looks like all networking under A/UX is Berkeley-oriented. Apple even calls the package B-NET for Berkeley Networking. It may be easier to run A/UX and port the Berkeley-isms than trying a new operating system (with probably less Tech support than Apple can provide on A/UX). I have found that by writing portable (or semi-portable) code, I have little hassle porting code from System V to BSD implementations, such as HP-UX (System V with BSD enhancements) to SunOS (BSD) and back again. Since you will be porting anyway, you may want to go through the code and look for gotchas--BSD-oriented or otherwise. If you are starting from a Sun-3 (MC 68020 processor) you probably shouldn't have byte-ordering problems. Other funnies involve hidden padding in structures (always pad structures yourself to at least 16-bit boundaries, if not 32-bit boundaries), and representation dependencies (e.g., assuming that all ints and longs are both 32 bits, etc.). Also check routines that get the time and the strchr/rindex stuff. By the way, X 11 runs under A/UX. While not always fun, porting code can often improve the product as hidden errors are found and the code is cleaned up to make it more portable. Anyway, take another look at A/UX, it might not be as hard as you think. Have fun, -Eric -- Eric F. Johnson | Phone +1 612-894-0313 | Are we Prime Automation,Inc | UUCP: bungia!pai!erc | having 12201 Wood Lake Drive | UUCP: sun!tundra!pai!erc | fun Burnsville, MN 55337 USA | DOMAIN: erc@pai.mn.org | yet?
verber@cheops.cis.ohio-state.edu (Mark A. Verber) (03/03/89)
Mach has been ported to the Macintosh II by CMU. I don't know what the immediate distribution plans are, but we should see something in the next few months. Unfortunately for many, the standard Mach distribution from CMU is on 9track tape. Not very useful for more MacII people. Another problem is that a source license will be required since there is still AT&T material in the code. One might encourage Apple to think about switch from A/UX to Mach. [Yes I know it isn't a 'production' OS, but then who believes that A/UX is a production OS either.] People might also encourage Mt. Xinu to add MacIIs to the Mach support list (currently IBM-RTs, Sun-3, and uVaxen). --------------------------------------------------------------------- Mark A. Verber Computer Science Department verber@cis.ohio-state.edu Ohio State University 2036 Neil Avenue Mall 614-292-7344 Columbus, OH 43210-1277 There are two major products that come out of Berkeley: LSD and UNIX. We don't believe this to be a coincidence.