Unix System V.3 Configuration Philosophy

[Mark Campbell]

Could someone please explain the rationale behind the
3B2 System V.3 configuration scheme?  I'm specifically
talking about the "mboot"/"lboot" code which handles
reconfiguration at run-time.  It seems to me to be really
cumbersome -- a sure sign that I'm missing the reasons
the code exists in the first place.  Some of the basic
questions I have are:

   o Why is the symbol table constructed at run-time?
   o Why use "mkboot" instead of the traditional
     SGS code ("ld").

I really don't want to get into arguments concerning
"this is better than that", I just want to understand
what motivated the developers.

Thanks.
-- 

Mark Campbell    Phone: (803)-791-6697     E-Mail: !ncsu!ncrcae!sauron!campbell