What is Amiga Unix really like, (really porting)

[Jim Logan]

In article <1991May19.191728.27802 at digibd.com> rhealey at digibd.com (Rob Healey) writes:
# 	Unless you're doing the port for C=, why bother? 2.0 will have
# 	the newer gcc in it, or so I've heard. Why not put resources
# 	elsewhere?

Because I want g++ and I don't know when 2.0 will be available!
I sure hope its real soon -- I CAN'T EVEN USE MY MODEM AT 1200
BAUD WITHOUT THE KERNEL PANICKING!!!

At LEAST /dev/ser works with UUCP.  I think that's just because
of the low throughput of the "g" protocol.  I have a modem that
does 19200 with UUCP "G" protocol spoofing and I can't use it!  I
end up shelling out more money to UUNET than I have to for hourly
connect time!   

# 	Maybe we should set up a mail group for Amix porting so that
# 	C= and the rest of us don't do work that someone else has already
# 	done? Remember, C= is updating and porting programs for 2.0...

Count me in!  I'll send you email when I setup my alias.  I'm at
work and can't do it now.

I said:
# >I expect to get my UUNET account and password in the mail today (I
# >already received my Nutshell book and answers to everyone's questions
# >about UUNET, so I expect the rest today).

(As a side note: I finally figured out that I had the login and
password all along!  It was a mailing label stuck to page 3 of
the "Answers to Questions" book.)

# 	Huh? Rn comes with Amix? 2.0 will probably have the newest
# 	rn in it. The rn on 1.1 works well as local, rn, and over
# 	the net, rrn. NNTP and Bnews are also already in the stock
# 	distribution along with the source to it all.

I knew that before I posted, but I forgot about it.  The only
problem is that I have to go back to the source code to find all
of the files that I need to update.  I remember, when I ported it
at other sites, having to compile the domain name into the news
software.  Maybe that was just a really old version, but I am
concerned that the wrong defaults will be compiled in (like
.uucp).  It would probably be easier to rebuild it from scratch --
at least I would know what I'm getting.

Isn't it fun to work without documentation?

# 	Since C= already has B news done and B news is essentially done,
# 	i.e. all new development will probably involve C news in the
# 	USENET community. I'd say try to port C news.

Is anyone out there aware of any problems with C news?

# 	TeX 3.0, metafont and xdvi all work great under Amix 1.1.
# 	Had to #if !defined(AMIX) around some of the sprintf
# 	declarations but otherwise it was straight forward and easy.
# 	If you want the gory details, send me email.

I'm not up to speed on TeX yet.  Can I do high-quality (well,
high quality for a dot-matrix anyway) proportional printing on my
24 pin Epson LQ-1010?  If I can, I will definitely want to port
it and learn it.  (Plus I can print out all of that nice GNU
documentation!) 

# 	UUNET should have a copy of it in comp.sources.x. xrn requires
# 	NNTP, which comes with Amix 1.1, but it also might require X11R4
# 	to compile. I've had mixed luck with X programs under 1.1. Seems
# 	the farther away from Xlib you get, i.e. Athena widgets and
# 	extensive Xt use, the more likely newer X programs will bomb.
# 
# 	Supposedly 2.0 will have X11R4 so these problems should be
# 	moot in the next rel. of the OS.

Can you tell me any more about it?  Like, what does it do that
"rn" can't?  Does it do anything like summarize the subjects?
(I mean summarize, not list every occurance like "rn" does.)

			-Jim