mod.std.unix P1003 job control proposal

[std-unix at ut-sally.UUCP]

From: pyramid!utzoo!henry (Henry Spencer)
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 86 20:18:05 CDT

Apart from my overall objections to the concept of job control, there is
one thing seriously wrong with the P1003 job control proposal as posted:
it assumes that function names are distinct in at least the first 8
characters, as witness "setpgrp" vs. "setpgrp2" and "getpgrp" vs. "getpgrp2".
Note that an X3J11-conforming C implementation need distinguish only the
first 6 characters.  I would suggest revised names for the new primitives,
perhaps "setjpgrp" and "getjpgrp", with implementations which distinguish
8 or more characters providing "setpgrp2" and "getpgrp2" names as well for
maximum compatibility with existing mistakes.

				Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
				{allegra,ihnp4,decvax,pyramid}!utzoo!henry

Volume-Number: Volume 7, Number 70