minnie.tuhs.org/unixen.tar/unixen/Other/Coherent/DemonArchives/docs/coh.port.faq.z/coh.port.faq

Text File | 1993-09-08 | 26.2 KB | 600 lines

Port/Application FAQ for Coherent, Number 3, March 4, 1993
----------------------------------------------------------

Intro
-----

Why does this exist?  Coherent is a great OS, IMHO, and there are plenty
of things being ported for it.  However, sometimes it gets confusing
as to who is porting what.  So I decided to try and make a list of all of
them so that people can see who is doing what, and that way it is easier to
get help (if you want it) and people won't duplicate other's efforts.

The best approach to take (again, IMHO) would seem to be this:  let MWC
work on the OS, and let us work on the applicatons.  The reason?  If MWC
can spend more time on the kernel and less on apps, things like sockets
and the like will appear sooner.  This, in turn will allow more apps to be
ported.

Regardless, here is the FAQ.  Info on submitting will be at the end.

Summary  (Format courtesy of Detlef Marxsen [e-mail])
-------
Key:
    2 = 286-Coherent Only (by default should work with 386 tho)
    3 = 386-Coherent Only
    4 = Both 286 and 386 for certain
    B = Beta testers appreciated
    D = Documentation writers appreciated
    M = More programmers for teamwork appreciated
    T = Translators needed (Te->english Tf->french, etc.)
    Cx = Completion level(1-10): 1=just started 7=beta 10=all done
    Ox = Original application (not a port) x=F-Freeware|S-Shareware

Contact / Code / Project
---------------------------------
[e-mail] (Detlef Marxsen)/3BC7OF/BBS-Server
---------------------------------
[e-mail] (Detlef Marxsen)/C7OF/astrodb
---------------------------------
[e-mail] (Harry C. Pulley, IV)/3C8/Bitmapped device driver
---------------------------------
[e-mail] (Harry C. Pulley, IV)/3C6/MGR
---------------------------------
[e-mail] (Pat White)/MC1/uw
---------------------------------
[e-mail] (Fred Smith)/C?(see below)/joe 1.05
---------------------------------
[e-mail] (Brian Wallis)/3C3/Ghostscript 2.4
---------------------------------
[e-mail] (Brian Wallis)/3C4/Perl 4.025
---------------------------------
[e-mail] (Brian Wallis)/3C8/GNU Emacs 18.57
---------------------------------
[e-mail] (Randy Wright)/4C8OFT?DM/Exporter BBS
---------------------------------
[e-mail] (Louis Giliberto)/3C2OF/mwcbbsplus interface
---------------------------------
[e-mail] (Louis Giliberto)/3C10/OSP - Operating System Env.
---------------------------------
[e-mail] (Louis Giliberto)/3(2?)C6M/Infocom Interpreter
---------------------------------
[e-mail] (Pierre Ficheux)/3C1/gcc 1.40
---------------------------------
[e-mail] (Pierre Ficheux)/3C9/GNU Emacs 18.59
---------------------------------
[e-mail] (Jon Dhuse)/3C4/X11R5 (X-Windows)
---------------------------------
[e-mail] (David John Murdoch at duncan)/3C?/COPS
---------------------------------


Notes and more info
-------------------

BBS-Server - [e-mail] (Detlef Marxsen)

"Mail gets automagically read, the requested application gets started,
and the result get sent back.  Send 'help' to [e-mail] for
testing."

---------------------

astrodb - [e-mail] (Detlef Marxsen)

"Scans SAC astronomy database for object data."

---------------------

Bit-mapped Device Driver - [e-mail] (Harry C. Pulley, IV)

"This driver is for Coherent version 4.0.  It is a generic driver; that is,
it may be used with any graphics card.  This device driver is able to be generic
since most of the 'real work' is done by the application program.  The primary
purpose of this driver is the porting of MGR.

"Essentially, this driver gives you the ability to access the graphics device
through a subset of the iBCS DISPLAY ioctl() codes.  MGR does not use the
iBCS codes to the letter so the subset is sufficient for MGR and probably
for most or all graphics applications."

----------------------

MGR - [e-mail] (Harry C. Pulley, IV)

"I am porting MGR along with Udo Munk and Vince Petree is helping me test
the Hercules code.... it is a small, fast window manager written by Bellcore
(freely distributable).  There should be support for Hercules, EGA, VGA, and
SVGA graphics modes."

-----------------------

Uw - [e-mail] (Pat White)

"Uw is a utility that multiplexes up to 7 windows down a phone line. It
requires a client at the other end (I know clients are available for
Amiga, Mac & MS-DOS (running windows I think)).  This software is BSD source
and uses a lot of BSD extensions.  Main problem area is substituting named
pipes for BSD sockets.  Anyone who wants to help probably needs access to a
BSD manual (I'm using mine a lot)."

------------------------

joe 1.05 - [e-mail] (Fred Smith)

"I've also been working on joe 1.05 (Joe's Own Editor), and it seems to
work, but the author asked me to hold off while he incorporates some
additional features into my Coherent port, so I can try building
a later version with more features."

---------------------------

Ghostscript 2.4 - [e-mail] (Brian Wallis)

"I'm only doing a deskjet 500 driver version (djet500) version since
this is the only output device I have. But then, no changes to the
driver were necessary to compile it so others should fit in reasonably
easily (I think all the HP PCL printer drivers are the same code with
the possible exception of the deskjet 500C)

"I've lost my list of the codes, not sure if the 3 (above) is correct.
I've got it compiled and am currently debugging it (again, there are
some minor Coherent bugs/incompatibilities). It hasn't generated any
output yet."

----------------------------

Perl 4.035 - [e-mail] (Brian Wallis)

"I've lost my list of the codes, not sure if the 4 is correct. It
currently runs and is sort of useable but I don't quite trust it.
There are 6 of the tests in the test suite that fail. 4(?) have been
isolated to Coherent bugs/incompatibilities and need work arounds
which I am working on."

-----------------------------

GNU Emacs 18.57 - [e-mail] (Brian Wallis)

"Patches have been posted (2) to this group and should be available at
an archive near you!

"This is a fully functional port of GNU Emacs based on the 18.57
Version. The only part missing is the undump to dump out a new
executable with the lisp pre-loaded. The only effect of this is that
the startup time is a bit longer (but the executable file is
smaller!). Startup on a 25Meg 386 is about 20 seconds (Quantum IDE
disk). Minimum RAM usage is about 600K so a 4Mbyte system is
recommended.

"TODO: Undump and 18.59. Not high Priority. (I have a working emacs
now)"

[Note: there is an additional update to the new version of Emacs
 that will be available from mwcbbs sometime in the near future.
 It is available now from Udo's BBS.  This is listed below and
 was done by Pierre Ficheux based on Brian Wallis' 18.57 patches.
 The 18.57 distribution has become difficult to find, so I suggest
 you look for the newer port -- Louis]

---------------------------

Exporter BBS - [e-mail] (Randy Wright)

"This version is OK to redistribute, though development is not over yet.

*GNU style license.
*version included for Coherent 3.x  and 4.x in the same package.
*Color support including termcap and/or terminfo for called programs,
*fast and easy menu driven interface,
*context sensitive help system,
*menus can be toggled off and on if user desires, with a single key stroke.
*supports scripts of bbs commands,
*prompts and messages in a single file for easy customization/translation.
*up to 900 commands and 99 menus configurable by sysop,
*teleconferences with no formal limit to number of channels
*sysop's system monitor,
*user configuarable file transfer protocol, support
    for external protocols: x-y-z modem and kermit.
*user definable defaults for colors and file transfer protocols,
*events calendar support,
*includes database system with
    full screen download queue management.
    macro files allow automation of files library administration
    uses .dbf style files.
    restricted read only mode or full mode with locate,
    edit, sort and so on. (in color, when used with the
    bbs)
    runs on both 286 and 386 with up to 10 concurrent databases
    on 286 and 30 concurrent databases on 386 with DDK kernel.
*download queue system allows the user to select files from a full
    screen display that includes comments, file size and
    other information with a single key stroke. It also
    grabs entire "groups" of files in a couple of keystrokes.
*supports sysop definable "questionaires",
*menu/command manager for both 286 and 386 enviornments,
*runs any program with sysop's predefined arguments,
*29 builtin commands available to use on menus,
*restricted call time length available at any time interval desired by sysop,
*each user (or group of users) can have a totally different
    command/menu set,
*60 new on-line man sets,
*includes getty wedge to log modem activty, pperm to remove old
    locks and keep the serial port permissions correct, rmhd to remove
    lines from the begining of log files.
*16 additional programs to administer or assist the BBS,
*Install *and* Unintsall scripts. Since there is no warranty with
    a gnu license, you can easily remove it if you don't
    like it (or if you want to upgrade it ).
*developer's tools including  database of all function definitions
    and all function calls by filename and line number. You
    can tweak it to your heart's desire.
*developed on COHERENT machines for COHERENT machines.
*Installs in about 10 minutes (on a 386dx 25mhz, including all compile
    time and nroff'ing man pages.)

What are the known limitations of Exporter BBS ?

*uses external file transfer protocols only. You'll need
    the zmodem package. Uses COHERENT's kermit.
*Each menu/command set is a fixed length database 275kb in length,
    so you will find a toll exacted on your disk drive if you
    add many different sets. I use 2. One is a 'guest' set and
    the other is a regular set. Of course, sets can be shared
    among any number of users, and a special file lists which
    user gets which set. You'll need about 1.5 mb of disk space
    to compile and run this minimal set.
*The database system lacks relational abilities and an interpreter.
    It is a simple menu driven .dbf system.
*news and mail are external. The BBS checks the user's mail box
    after every command, in the manner that any other 'shell'
    would and reports new mail. However, most news and mail
    programs offer security holes for certain systems.
*the bbs itself supports ansi, dos-ansi, vt100 and tty only. However,
    the sysop can add terminals.

How much does it cost?

*Exporter BBS is free.

What about source code?

*The distribution contains all source code.

Where is it available?
    by ftp: raven.alaska.edu
    by interactive download from:
    [phone] login as guest. 8N1, 300 to 14400
    It will be available on mwcbbs soon."

--------------------------

mwcbbsplus interface - [e-mail] (Louis Giliberto)

I don't particularly care for the current mwcbbs user interface, so
since MWC released the code I decided to write my own.  It will allow
you to view the news file without leaving the program and will have
a more BBS-like interface including searching for new files, listing
by date, alphabetical order, etc, without outputting to another file.

It is curses-based, and I'm trying to use generic calls so it
can compile under the 286 version of Coh as well.  Another feature
I will have is that you can run it with a -U switch, and it will run
in batch mode generating the uucp commands to download the Contents.*
and news files so you can update the menus via cron automatically once
a month/week/whenever.  If anyone wants anything else added, just e-mail
me and if it fits in with my schedule I'll add it.  So far I have the
menus done and viewing the news file (via the pager).  Next step
is the Contents files themselves.

---------------------------

OSP An Environment for Operating Systems Projects
  - [e-mail] (Louis Giliberto)

I ported this to Coherent for school (I have to develop assignments
for a prof for an Operating Systems course), and it is available only
to instructors (or peon grad assistants like me who do some of the
work :) ), but some schools must use Coh, so I'd like them to know
about it.

You must get the source code from the authors (instructions below).
I will *not* give the source out, so don't ask.  What I will give
out is a patch kit for Coherent :)  To get this, just e-mail me, and
I'll send it to ya.  After April or so, I'll give the authors the patch
kit, and they can distribute it with the OS simulator.

So what is OSP exactly?  I've included a TeX description I converted
to text.  This should tell you what you want to know.


OSP: An Environment for Operating System Projects
    Michael Kifer and Scott A. Smolka
    Department of Computer Science
    SUNY at Stony Brook
    Stony Brook, NY 11794-4400
    [e-mail], [e-mail]

Introduction
------------
OSP is  both an implementation of a modern operating system, and a flexible
environment for generating implementation projects
appropriate for an introductory course in operating system design.  It is
intended to complement the use of most standard textbooks on operating systems
and contains enough projects for up to three semesters.  These projects expose
students to many essential features of operating systems, while at the same
time isolating them from low-level machine-dependent concerns.  Thus, even in
one semester, students can learn about page replacement strategies in virtual
memory management, cpu scheduling strategies, disk seek time optimization, and
other issues in operating system design.

OSP consists of a number of modules, each of which performs a basic operating
systems service, such as device scheduling, cpu scheduling, interrupt
handling, file management, memory management, process management, resource
management, and interprocess communication.  By selectively omitting any
subset of modules, the instructor can generate a project in which the
students are to implement the missing parts. This process is completely
automated by the OSP Project Generator, included in the distribution.
Projects can be organized in any desired order so as to progress in a manner
consistent with the lecture material.

The OSP Project Generator provides the instructor with a convenient
environment in which to create projects.  It generates a ``partial load
module'' of standard OSP modules to which the students link their
implementation of the assigned modules.  The result is a new and complete
operating system, partially implemented by the student.
Additionally, the project generator automatically creates ``module.c'' files
containing procedure headings and declarations of requisite data structures for
each of the assigned modules.  These files can be given as part of a project
assignment in which the students are to fill in the procedure bodies.  This
ensures a consistent interface to OSP and eliminates much of the routine
typing, both by the instructor and by the students.

The heart of OSP is a simulator that gives the illusion of a computer system
with a dynamically evolving collection of user processes to be multiprogrammed.
All the other modules of OSP are built to respond appropriately to the
simulator-generated events that drive the operating system.
The simulator ``understands'' its interaction with the other modules in that it
can often detect an erroneous response by a module to a simulated event.  In
such cases, the simulator will gracefully terminate execution of the program by
delivering a meaningful error message to the user, indicating where the error
might be found.  This facility serves both as a debugging tool for the student
and as teaching tool for the instructor, as it ensures
that student programs acceptable to the simulator are virtually bug-free.

The difficulty of the job streams generated by the simulator can be dynamically
adjusted by manipulating the simulation parameters.  This yields a
simple and effective way of testing the quality of student programs.  There are
also facilities that allow the students to debug their programs by interacting
with OSP during simulation.

OSP was developed at SUNY, Stony Brook, and borrowed several important ideas
from an earlier project headed by Art Bernstein.
The underlying model in OSP is not a clone of any specific operating system.
Rather it is an abstraction of the common features
of several systems (although a bias towards UNIX can be seen, at times).
With the exception of the modules for interprocess communication, the OSP
modules were designed to hide a number of low-level concerns,
yet still encompass the most salient aspects of their real-life counterparts in
modern systems.  Their implementation is well-suited as the project component
of an introductory course in operating systems.
A more advanced project can be built around the two modules that deal
with interprocess communication. Their design is more detailed and gives
students the opportunity to work in a realistically ``dirtier'' environment.

OSP is documented in the following book:

OSP:  An Environment for Operating System Projects,
Michael Kifer and Scott A. Smolka, Addison-Wesley,
ISBN 0-201-54887-9 (1991).

An instructor's version of the book (ISBN 0-201-54888-7), which includes
directions for installing and running OSP as well as suggestions for
programming assignments, is available through your Addison-Wesley
representative.

The present version of OSP is written in C and runs on most flavors of UNIX,
such as BSD, System V, SunOS, Mach, Ultrix, HP-UX, AIX, etc.

The OSP Software Distribution
-----------------------------
The OSP software sources are available via ftp from
sblapis1.cs.sunysb.edu, account ospftp. This account has a password, which can
be obtained from the instructor's manual to OSP. (Addison-Wesley provides this
manual only to instructors teaching an OS course.)

The actual distribution is in the file
          OSP.tar.Z
This is a compressed 'tar' file. Use 'uncompress' and 'tar xf'
to install the sources.
After this, OSP can be compiled by executing the shell scripts
bin/osp.startup and bin/osp.compile.  Please
see the OSP Instructor's Manual for further details.

OSP runs best from a root directory of a dedicated account. However, it can
be also run from a subdirectory, by setting $HOME appropriately.

The directory structure of the distribution consists of the source code of the
OSP modules (which also serve as examples of solutions),
various shell scripts such as  osp.startup and osp.compile,
LaTeX sources of a number of suggested OSP programming assignments, and more.

OSP Mailing List
----------------
There is a mailing list for OSP users.  The purpose of the
mailing list is to allow us to inform the OSP community of any changes to the
software and documentation (e.g., bug fixes, enhancements, future
versions), and to serve as a medium for discussions on OSP among its users.

This mailing list is moderated and all communications should be sent to
        [e-mail]

This same address should also be used for reporting any problems or
asking any questions concerning OSP that may not be of general interest, and
for any mailing list administrative matters (e.g., add/delete a subscription).
Such messages will not be broadcast to the mailing list subscribers.

Note that the mailing list is intended solely for use by instructors of
operating systems courses that use the OSP software.  In particular, it is
not intended for students of such courses.   Therefore, if you would like to
subscribe to the mailing list, please email us at [e-mail]
your full name, position, address, and telephone number, and at the same time
physically mail us a copy of a
departmental brochure or course schedule on which your name appears.

[TeX -> text conversion by L. Giliberto for the FAQ.  The crummy formatting
 is my fault, not the authors! They had cool italics and centering! :) ]

-----------------------

InfoTaskForce Infocom Interpreter - [e-mail] (Louis Giliberto)

This is a great program that lets you play infocom games under Coherent
(or a bunch of other machines -- it has multiple make options).  I
have the following compile options working: sysv_ansi (ansi display),
sysv_termcap (uses termcap for display).  sysy_ansic (color ansi display)
may work as well, but I only have monochrome, and you need the color
fix from Udo so I need someone else to test this.  I will be working on
getting the curses options to compile, but don't expect that in the
near future since termcap works for remote logins and ansi works great
for the console.

Besides allowing you to play zork I,II,III,Zero,Beyond Zork, Starcross,
Hitchhikers Guide, etc it also has cheat options that will dump out a
list of objects, rooms, etc.

To use this, you need the *.dat files for the games (not included -- these
are copywritten files).  Around here, you can get _The Lost Treasures of
Infocom_ (there are 2 vols. 1 and 2 --- 1 is the best, IMHO) for
$40 and it contains 20 games.  That's $2 per game, so you can't complain
about the price :)  Just install it on your dos machine, then move all
the *.dat files you want to use to your Coh box.  Wallah! Instant
Wizard of Frobozz!!!

Anyone who wants to try and work on the curses option, please feel free
as I am bogged down in lots of projects right now.  All I ask is that
you tell me so the port can have some type of consistency to it (I'll
give you full credit of course!).  It's no big emergency since curses doesn't
give you anything that ansi and termcap do (well, it gives you color
for non-ansi terminals -- so, I lied).  Also, will someone with the
color ansi addition and a color monitor try compiling and running with
sysv_ansic and let me know what happens?  Also, this should run under
a 3.x version of coh if you recompile it.  I'm not sure though, so
don't run out and buy the games.  But if someone could try it, I'd
like to know.

This is kinda pre-beta since testing means playing some full games and
I haven't finished one yet.  I will put it on raven and
mwcbbs as soon as I get a chance (by the end of the week of Mar 7th, 1993).

---------------------------------

gcc 1.40  -  [e-mail]  (Pierre Ficheux)

"I have just started the porting of the Gnu C compiler release 1.40.
I know that MWC has released a version of gcc but i think it is based on 2.x
release (including C and C++). We have ported gcc-1.39 and gcc-2.2.2 at work
and it seems that gcc-1.39 is more interesting for people who don't want to
use C++ (smaller, faster..., on 68k based computers). Perhaps i'm wrong
but i want to try it ! (i don't know if other people have tried too,
please give me infos)"

----------------------------------

GNU Emacs 18.59 - [e-mail] (Pierre Ficheux)

"My porting of Gnu Emacs 18.59 is based on 18.57 patches posted by Brian
Wallis ([e-mail]) to "comp.os.coherent". I have added features that
did not work on the patches (*shell* buffer, dired, mail, ...). I have sent a
copy of it to Udo Munk ([e-mail]) for his BBS."

[Udo stated that it has been forwarded to MWC and should eventually
 be available from mwcbbs (and therefore by Raven after that). - Louis]

------------------------------------

X11R5 - [e-mail] (Jon Dhuse)

    - X libraries ported, server port in progress
    - MIT X11R5 distribution - patch level 17

"This is a straightforward port of the X Window System, both the application
libraries and the server.  Clients and server must be local to the same
machine, since Coherent currenly does not include support for sockets or
streams.  Client/server communication is currently implemented by an
emulation of sockets using pipes.  This will be replaced by TCP/IP sockets
whenever Coherent supports it.

* current video hardware support plans
   - standard VGA 640x480x16 colors
   - extended VGA 800x600x256 colors using TSENG ET4000 video chipset"

---------------------------------------

COPS [e-mail] (David John Murdoch at duncan)

[David just mentioned this to me and I said I would put it in the FAQ, so I'm
supplying a rough description. -Louis]

COPS is a program which is designed to help monitor security and
system integrity on Unix systems.  If you allow remote logins and
have heavy system cracking activity in your area, you might want
to consider running it (another good program which hasn't been
ported yet is Tripwire). He plans to make both diff files and a stripped
down distribution available on raven.alaska.edu and mwcbbs.

----------------------------------------

Submission info:
----------------

When I receive a submission, I will keep it in the FAQ until it reaches
completion level 10 (all done).  Then it will appear one more time, and
be removed since I'm assuming the project is done.  I'll put out a FAQ
once a month.  If the completion level changes, please e-mail me and
I'll update it.

Here are the codes again so you don't have to scroll back:


Key:
    2 = 286-Coherent Only (by default should work with 386 tho)
    3 = 386-Coherent Only
    4 = Both 286 and 386 for certain
    B = Beta testers appreciated
    D = Documentation writers appreciated
    M = More programmers for teamwork appreciated
    T = Translators needed (Te->english Tf->french, etc.)
    Cx = Completion level(1-10): 1=just started 7=beta 10=all done
    Ox = Original application (not a port) x=F-freeware|S-Shareware


Submission form (Based on Detlef's idea):
-----------------------------------------

*Note* please mail this to: [e-mail]
If you just reply, it will go to my account which is fine, but I'll have
to sort it out of my other e-mail and it might get lost.

Name and Email address:
Project Name:
Codes (see above):
Notes or important info:

-----------------(notes can be as long as you want)----------------
Comments and suggestions and flames can be sent to me directly:
[e-mail]

-Louis Giliberto

--
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Louis J. Giliberto, Jr.   ! [e-mail]  (send here)
   -sysadmin drktowr       ! [e-mail]    (forwards to above)
   Chicago, IL  USA        ! [e-mail]     (probably OK)
Home of DarkTower Software ! [e-mail] (anal-retentive ACS
                           !      machine with quotas - don't bother)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Try his first wife's maiden name backwards" -- Cheshire Catalyst
----------------------------------------------------------------------------