Tech Notes

[David S. Herron]

In article <415 at netxcom.netx.com> logan at netxcom.netx.com (Jim Logan) writes:
>In article <mmm.1285 at reaper.Chi.IL.US> mmm at reaper.Chi.IL.US (Michael Marvin Morrison) writes:
>I'm an owner and I don't get the Tech Notes.  Why?  What do I
>have to do to get them?!  Without proper documentation I NEED
>them!  Please respond!  (Please, oh please, oh please!)  

I'm getting them.  Somebody posted an e-mail address to which
you would beg to be put on the mailing list.  (There's also
a SnailMail address & telephone number; if you trust those more).
I don't even own Amiga UNIX (and won't, since I've decided
to go with a SPARCstation instead, but I digress)..

>*** FLAME ON!
>Commodore:
>I really wish you would provide a manual that allows me to use
>the Commodore enhancements, rather than wasting my money by
>making me pay for baby books about how to use "vi"!  I have spent
>a lot of time figuring out things that used to be a man-page
>away.  Like, where did "fmtflop" go?  It took me quite a while to
>figure out that there is a special device I have to write to!  I
>wasted my time looking for a command to do it!  

Calm down..  fmtflop is a Unix PC specific command.  (to my knowledge)
(Perhaps some other Convergent machines use that command?)

Pure System V has, for a long time anyway, had you type a
command like

	format /dev/rdsk/f0q15dt

(That device name is specific (I think) to SysV/386 and refers
to drive 0, and assumes it is a 5 1/4" HD floppy).

This isn't very user friendly.  But it is more specific
than "fmtflop".  Suppose you have more than one flopy?  Suppose
you have devices other than floppies?  Are you going to invent
a special command to format each of them?  That requires the
user to learn lots of very similar commands.  This isn't
a good idea, at least from a consistency standpoint..



	David


-- 
<- David Herron, an MMDF & WIN/MHS guy, <david at twg.com>
<- Formerly: David Herron -- NonResident E-Mail Hack <david at ms.uky.edu>
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