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- Path: longway!std-unix
- From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu
- Newsgroups: comp.std.unix
- Subject: Re: A "public domain" set of include files.
- Message-ID: <263@longway.TIC.COM>
- Date: 16 Nov 88 05:29:43 GMT
- References: <255@longway.TIC.COM>
- Sender: std-unix@longway.TIC.COM
- Reply-To: henry@zoo.toronto.edu
- Lines: 24
- Approved: jsq@longway.tic.com (Moderator, John S. Quarterman)
-
- From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu
-
- >... one of the things I would like to see, is a list of the 'necessary'
- >files in these directories, and perhaps, public domain (or freeware) versions
- >of these files...
-
- There is a fundamental problem with this, in that those files can and often
- do contain implementation-dependent information. For example, <stdio.h>
- must contain definitions of the getc and putc macros, which are intimately
- tied to the implementation details of the rest of stdio. For another
- example, it's hard to imagine a portable version of <stdarg.h>, since its
- whole purpose is to cover up implementation details.
-
- >... Thus, people developing software (PD or otherwise), which
- >in some way or another, uses these definitions, can know what to expect...
-
- This is precisely what documentation, including standards, is supposed to
- tell you. (Admittedly, it doesn't always do this very well.)
-
- Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
- uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu
-
-
- Volume-Number: Volume 15, Number 30
-