NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #27/NN_1992_27.iso/spool/comp/unix/question/13890

Internet Message Format | 1992-11-24 | 69.7 KB

Path: sparky!uunet!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!darwin.sura.net!lhc!adm!news
From: [e-mail] (SMTP MAILER)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions
Subject: Mail not delivered yet, still trying
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 23 Nov 92 22:19:51 GMT
Sender: [e-mail]
Lines: 1929


 ----Mail status follows----
Have been unable to send your mail to <[e-mail]>
for one day, will keep trying for another seven days.
At that time your mail will be returned.

 ----Transcript of message follows----
Date: 22 Nov 92 03:27:00 EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: INFO-UNIX Digest  V17#005
To: "DGRAY" <[e-mail]>

Return-Path: <[e-mail]>
Received: from SEM.BRL.MIL by milo.starlab.csc.com with SMTP ;
          Sun, 22 Nov 92 03:18:51 EST
Received: from SEM.BRL.MIL by SEM.BRL.MIL id aa24370; 21 Nov 92 6:37 EST
Received: from sem.brl.mil by SEM.BRL.MIL id aa24241; 21 Nov 92 6:18 EST
Date:       Sat, 21 Nov 92 11:18:28 EST
From:       The Moderator (Mike Muuss) <[e-mail]>
To:         [e-mail]
Reply-To:   [e-mail]
Subject:    INFO-UNIX Digest  V17#005
Message-ID:  <[e-mail]>

INFO-UNIX Digest          Sat, 21 Nov 1992              V17#005

Today's Topics:
                          Re: C-Shell question
                Summary 2 :benchmark for file systems !
                             "find" problem
                        Running pgm's from INIT
                                 groups
                           Re: IS UNIX DEAD?
             HELP! needed identifying ethernet board needed
                            Re: unix for 386
                     REMAPPING KEYS WITHIN BASH/SH
                            grammer checker
                          Re: grammer checker
                   Re: Overflow warnings (SCO SV3.2)
                       IS UNIX DEAD?  (12 of 22)
                        Re: IS UNIX DEAD? (long)
                  Re: Needle in a hay stack - nslookup
                         HELP!!! MAJOR DILEMMA!
                      Searching for E-mail package
                      Re: Mail - signature files.
                     Re: IS UNIX DEAD? (very long)
                        Re: IS UNIX DEAD (long)
                       Re: diff in scripts again
         Re: Whence Unix? (was Re: IS UNIX DEAD?) (New Thread?)
                     automating anonymous ftp login
                   Re: automating anonymous ftp login
                            Re: Vi-question
         Re: Getting a file's size with the FILE data structure
                                Re grep
                        Info wanted on UNIX std?
                 How to give root permission to user??
               Re: How to give root permission to user??
                     CFP: CSAM93 Computer Congress
                        sum -r source/algorithm
     Re: net.views - mainframe programmers in an open systems world
                             MDBM and PCOMM
        Help wanted with Thompson Toolkit (Thompson Automation)
                      *** HELP:: Linux Xserver ***
                          Unattended execution
                     Public domain src for "ttype"
                            C Program error
-----------------------------------------------------------------

From: Bertil Engelholm <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: C-Shell question
Date: 4 Nov 92 08:03:38 GMT
Sender: [e-mail]
Nntp-Posting-Host: euas39c40.eua.ericsson.se
To:       [e-mail]

In article [e-mail], [e-mail] (Bertil Engelholm) writes:
>Hi,
>
>I am having a problem with a small script I have written.
>
>#!/bin/csh
>
>/usr/bin/rm $1
>
>if ( $status != 0 ) then
>    exit 1
>endif
>
>exit 0
>
>If I execute this script in a shelltool I get the right actions, that is,
>if the file is removed the exit code is 0 and if the file doesn't exists
>the exit code is 1. Now to the problem :
>If I execute the script with rsh, that is, (rsh 'hostname' 'scriptname' 'filename')
>I always get exit code 0 independent of the existance of the file.
>It seems like the variable $status is not set correctly in that case.
>(not in the way I expects anyway)
>Can anyone out there explain that ??
>
>/Bertil

Thank's a lot for all the answers, but I am not shure I understand them.
All the answers is saying that the exit-code stored in $status is the result
code of rsh. But how can that happen ? How can the result code of rsh be stored
in the $status variable before rsh has executed all of the script ?
I thought that executing rsh would mean that rsh is making something like
rlogin and then executing the program (in my case the script) and when the
program has ended rsh returns with a exit code. If that is so how can it be
that the result of rsh is stored in $status before rsh has ended.

(Confused script writer)

/Bertil

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

From: Dennis Cheng-Zen Yang <[e-mail]>
Subject: Summary 2 :benchmark for file systems !
Date: 9 Nov 92 02:55:59 GMT
Sender: USENET PROXY ACCOUNT <[e-mail]>
Nntp-Posting-Host: pluto.csie.ntu.edu.tw
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]
To:       [e-mail]


There are two additional replies. Thanks to :
[e-mail] (Hartmut Schreibe) and
[e-mail] (Tim Bray)

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
[e-mail]  (Hartmut Schreibe) writes :

Ni hao!

There IS! The name is nfsstone but I don't know, where to find sources for it,
so if you get more answers, please forward them to me.

Yours sincerely,

  Hartmut
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
[e-mail] (Tim Bray) writes :

Here is a very general purpose file-system benchmark named 'Bonnie',
which has been widely used around the Unix community to perform a
variety of filesystem measurements.
 ----------------------------------------------
 .....
 [program deleted, you can email to tim for request]
 .....

Thanks !

--
Dennis Cheng-Zen Yang                    Inter: [e-mail]
Computer System Lab.                     Tel  : [phone] ext 3236 or 3016
Dep. of Computer Sci. and Info. Eng.        ___  ___      ,   __  .
National Taiwan University                 /    <__      /    __> |__
                          <___  ___>    <___ <__| |__>

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

From: Chun-Hung Lin <[e-mail]>
Subject: "find" problem
Date: 9 Nov 92 05:38:50 GMT
Sender: USENET PROXY ACCOUNT <[e-mail]>
Nntp-Posting-Host: cml4.csie.ntu.edu.tw
To:       [e-mail]

Hello,

  I found that the UNIX command "find" cannot find the file
across the file system, i.e. I cannot find the file on file
system B when I am now on file system A. Is it true?
If it is true, how can I do this job? Any utility or command
is available?

=================================================================
Chun-Hung Lin
[e-mail]
Communication & Multimedia Lab.
Dept. of Comp. Sci. & Info. Eng.
National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.

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

From: Steve Kearns <[e-mail]>
Subject: Running pgm's from INIT
Keywords: unix, init
Date: 11 Nov 92 00:33:17 GMT
To:       [e-mail]

A friend of mine has the following scenario:  he has three terminals
without keyboards; the terminals have bar code scanners instead.
He wants to run a time card/clocking program at each of these
terminals at all times (automatically when the system boots).

Can anyone tell me how to set this up using either /etc/inittab
or an entry in /etc/rc2.d?  If I put the entries in inittab, how
should I go about setting the terminal's stty parameters (since there
won't be a getty)?

Any suggestions or ideas are greatly appreciated.  Thanks in
advance.

steve
--
Steve Kearns              A.C.T. Consulting, Inc.                  216-455-1444

Internet: [e-mail]
UUCP    : uunet!aablue!redpoll!mrsmouse!actcon!kearns

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

From: "Jethro H. Greene" <[e-mail]>
Subject: groups
Date: 12 Nov 92 02:49:32 GMT
Sender: [e-mail]
Followup-To: poster
Originator: [e-mail]
To:       [e-mail]

Where are the names of groups defined?  I couldn't find a field in /etc/passwd.
Also, what is a root group?  What priviledges does it have?

Finally, on another note, would someone tell me my options for "Followup-To:"?

Thanks in advance,

 --------------------------- |\_/| --------------------------------------------
| Jethro H. Greene (Jed) | \`0.0'/ | Massively Parallel Comp. Research Lab., |
| [e-mail]  | =(_-_)= | Sandia National Lab., Albuquerque, NM   |
 ---------------------------   U   --------------------------------------------

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

From: Peter Busser <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: IS UNIX DEAD?
Date: 12 Nov 92 13:28:29 GMT
To:       [e-mail]

>left cursor right and insert text simply. This is a drawback with unix : if
>you don't know how to use vi or emacs you cant edit your command line.

Hmm, I always use bash and in emacs mode it understands cursor keys...

>>Most DOS editors have a help key, they often show which commands are availlable
>>on the screen, have mouse support, pull-down menus or WordStar commands.
>Mouse support is certainly tricky under unix if you are connected with a
>vt100 and a modem :-)

But not for a graphical screen.

>>And emacs is easier to learn than vi? <grin> Besides that, the programs you
>>mention are editors. A typical programmer's tool. What about a decent word
>>processor? (Oh please, inform me about the 'user friendliness' of troff and
>>(La)TeX... :)

>I don't see your point here. Wordperfect and Microsoft word exist under unix,
>amongst other.

For WHICH UNIX?

>>Now you're talking. Let's face it, most users know DOS and not UNIX.
>I wonder what you understand by the word "know". I agree that there are more
>people who use programs on ms/dos machines that there are people who use
>programs on  unix machines. But I wouldnt say that they have a knowledge of
>ms/dos.

They for instance know to type 'dir' and what it does.

>>Without changing Makefiles??? Gee!
>Major unixes have an option in many makefiles (there is always a make sco or
>make sysv or make bsd).

Most programs I've seen don't have a 'make sco'. Most have a 'make sysv' or
'make bsd', but unfortunately SysV isn't always SysV and BSD isn't always BSD.
Compare for instance the wait3() function on a Sun and on other BSD systems...

>>Yep, but the problem is that even on the same processor it's not always
>>possible to exchange executables. Ever tried to run BSD/386 executables under
>>System V.4?
>Ever tried to run a windows programm under dos?

Ever tried to run X binaries without running X? I just did (xterm): Error:
can't open Display. Anyway, I can run a DOS executable under DR DOS, which is
a DOS clone. Many UNIXes don't allow this.

>and even sometimes no backups). I think we go back to your airplane example :
>under dos there is less to administer but the user is in charge of the whole
>machine, under unix the user doesnt have the hassle to administrate and can
>enjoy his programs fully.

We can have a UNIX which has UUCP, TCP/IP and such features disabled (note: NOT
removed). If someone wants to use those features, (s)he has to learn the
difficult part of using UNIX. But (s)he doesn't need to do that right from the
beginning.

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

From: Peter Busser <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: IS UNIX DEAD?
Date: 12 Nov 92 13:45:10 GMT
To:       [e-mail]


[e-mail] (Ade Barkah) writes:

>: BUT THEY HAVEN'T.  SO WHO CARES!  Sure the world would be a better place
>: if everyone had CD-ROMs.  But if they *DON'T* then selling an OS only
>: on CD-ROM is sorta silly, isn't it!

>No, not really. The Grolier Electronic Encyclopaedia is available only
>in CD-ROM, but would you expect them to ship in 500 floppies ? With
>your argument, it's silly for any company to sell their programs in
>CD-ROM, because not everyone has CD-ROMs.

And not everyone needs/wants The Grolier Electronic Encyclopedia, not on CD and
not on floppy. That's why not everyone has a CD-ROM (yet). Besides, I didn't
say that it's silly to sell software on CD-ROM, it's silly if your intent is
to sell large volumes in the present low-end market (for which Windows 3.x and
OS/2 are targeted). OS/2 is supplied on 20 floppies I guess, the Linux SLS
distribution is about the same size. So I'm definetly not talking about 500
floppies.

>Another argument is that you point out that not everyone has CD-ROMs.
>Well, obviously one could see that the operating system was NOT MEANT
>for every Joe-User.

That it wasn't meant for Joe User is the weakest argument I've heard in this
discussion. That only clarifies why it has worked that way in the past, but
it doesn't prove that it can't be done in the future. I agree that UNIX today
is too difficult to administer for most people. However, I think that it CAN
be made easy. UNIX wasn't meant for graphics and yet many UNIX systems are
devoted to graphics. It still evolves and it won't stop here.

>It's meant to be run on high-powered systems,
>and those with enough beaucoup-money support to buy CD-ROM drives
>(which, for companies, big organizations, are pretty cheap nowadays.)

CD-ROMs are even affordable by many hobbyists. The market at this moment is
rather small. If someone is going to sell a cheap UNIX on CD-ROM onl , it will
therefore have a small market. It could have had a bigger market if it was also
sold on floppies and tapes. If users choose to install it from floppy, then
why force them to buy a CD-ROM?

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

From: Peter Busser <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: IS UNIX DEAD?
Date: 12 Nov 92 14:48:57 GMT
To:       [e-mail]

[e-mail] (Scott Kaplan) writes:

>Peter Busser seems insistant in his response that UNIX has the ability to be
>all things to all people, if only programmers would make it as such.  Then all
>the UNIX world has to do is make it commercially feasible.

No, not all things to all people. It's just a matter of interfacing. As long as
you hide the details, then it doesn't matter if these details change. That is
for instance why C is such a popular language. The library hides (most of) the
details of the underlying operating system. I.e. the fopen() are implemented
differently under MeSs-DOS and under UNIX, but they have the same result. We
can consider fopen() to be a black box. A good user interface can do that for a
system. If programmers want to change the details, FINE! As long as they don't
change the interface.

>does not need to be ease of use.  The crowd that uses UNIX now will continue
>to do so, because they will make it more powerful and push its flexibility.

Of course.

>So both types of OS's will continue to grow
>in different directions.  There's little wrong with that.

Read on.

>maliable (sp?) OS.  If you make UNIX something that programmers don't want to
>use, THEN it will die, because nobody else will want to push it forward.

But... the largest market is the user market. If some system can dominate that
market, then that means that programmers are forced to write programs for that
system (or they lose their jobs) instead of writing programs for UNIX. What I
want to say is that it might be better to provide the user with 'our' system
then wait until the users provide us with his system (which 'we' know 'we'
probably don't like).

>Oh, and as much fun as we all like to make of MS-DOS, Mac OS, Windows...I do
>some tasks, some of them very simple, some of them moderately demanding, on
>such machines.  They're capable of some tough tasks...So let's not make them
>sound like their for simpletons only.

I'm not saying that. It's just that I'm used to worst case design... ;-)

>I would just cringe to think, though,
>what kind of mess my Mac interface would be if it contained the power of UNIX.

That would be monstrous! It's not what I would consider to be 'user friendly'.
What I want is a powerful user interface a la Windows or OS/2, with applications
that use the same user interface, with many system defaults (e.g. startup with
X, UUCP disabled (not removed!), etc.), and everything else exactly as we have
now in UNIX. IMHO, only the way a system is setup and the user interface stink
(from a user's point of view).

>Pull down menus that go on forever both down and accross, and some terrible
>way of mixing mouse selections to simulate what the UNIX command line does with
>pipes and such.  Bleah.

YUCK!

>Both kinds of OS can be better, and maybe something better will be developed...
>but strictly speaking, UNIX as the EveryThingOS doesn't seem such a wonderful
>idea.

I don't see much difference with a normal UNIX system we now know and a
polished UNIX. It's just that the disadvantages should be removed, otherwise
UNIX is a nice system.

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

From: Ian Leonard <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: IS UNIX DEAD?
Date: 12 Nov 92 21:02:21 GMT
To:       [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Marc G. Frank) writes:
>In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Paul Prescod) writes:
>
>>Why don't Unix "tools" have a convention about help and exit keys AT THE
>>VERY LEAST.

Like the F1 = Help and F10 = Exit (with the exception of Wordperfect)?
Probably because it's a stupid convention. Can somebody tell me why,
when IBM were searching for the ultimate user friendly keyboard, didn't
they put a HELP key on it. Why does it have an ESC key? To confuse poor
DOS programmers when they try to port to Unix? Why did someone pick
one of the handiest keys (F1) and use it for one of the most least
used functions (HELP) while burying the EXIT key (F10)? Have you ever
seen a genuine VT100 keyboard? It'll put you off function keys for life.

Unix tools predate the AT keyboard. Many old keyboards didn't have
function keys.

--
Ian

Ian Leonard                        [e-mail]
EON Software                       [phone]

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

From: Peter Busser <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: IS UNIX DEAD?
Date: 12 Nov 92 22:11:18 GMT
To:       [e-mail]

[e-mail] (Budi Rahardjo) writes:

>Then buy UnixWorld magazine, look at the ads.

>If Joe User prefers a comercial program why not go with SCO or NeXTstep.

You can find that answer in the same magazines. A small hint: $$$$.

Greetings,
Peter Busser

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

From: "Peter F. Couvares" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: IS UNIX DEAD?
Date: 13 Nov 92 00:03:58 GMT
To:       [e-mail]

[e-mail] (Peter Busser) writes:
>[e-mail] (Devin McQuaid) writes:

>>>Where can I get toll-free support for Linux?
>>
>>comp.os.linux
>>you won't get an answer in 20 min. but you will get your answer
>
>USENET costs $$$ too. And administration.

    That's a dumb response--so does a phone. The support itself is free,
which is what was initially asked for. Any kind of free support, be it via
phone, mail, or net account, will cost something to access.

-Peter

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

From: "Peter F. Couvares" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: IS UNIX DEAD?
Date: 13 Nov 92 00:13:47 GMT
To:       [e-mail]

[e-mail] (Peter Busser) writes:

>>>If you want a nice graphical interface
>>>like Windows or Os/2, you have to ftp and make that too.
>>
>>Um, no ... you just install X from the SLS disks, I believe.
>
>Yep. But then, how do I know to type in 'startx' on the command line?

    The same way you know to type "win" to start MSWindows or to
double-click to start a Mac application -- you read the short intro
documentation. It's not the least bit difficult.

-Peter

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

From: The Golden Gryphon <[e-mail]>
Subject: HELP! needed identifying ethernet board needed
Date: 12 Nov 92 14:42:11 GMT
To:       [e-mail]



Hi All,

A customer of mine has an AT&T 6386 WGS UNIX Box.  He wants to add TCP/IP to
the box, so he purchased the WIN TCP/IP from AT&T.  This package is now
installed, but the customers SMC ethernet board does not seem to be the one
required by the software.

The documentation references an AT&T StarLan NI board, and a StarLan NP600A
board.  These look like Racal-Datacomm boards that were OEMed by AT&T.  I would
like to get some verification on which ethernet boards my customer needs to
purchase.  I will try talking to AT&T and R-D today, but AT&T has a great game
of 800-it's-not-my-department phone tag.  I spend over an hour on hold
yesterday with AT&T as employee after employee gave me 800 number after 800
number.  No one was able to answer my question.  When I finally got to a
support line where they thought they could help I was told I would be called
back.  No time was given for the call back, and it did not come.

Please help me identify the board I need to buy.

--
The Golden Gryphon                 [e-mail]
Solve a man's problem and he has 1 less.        No incumbents in 92.
"Mad Scientists seeks mindless brawny assistants, good pay, quite location."
Openage - The Premier SCO UNIX integrator in the Washington D.C. area

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

From: Peter Busser <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: unix for 386
Date: 12 Nov 92 14:50:54 GMT
To:       [e-mail]

[e-mail] (Bill Vermillion) writes:

>'proprietary hardware' means hardware from one vendor.

 ... and keeping vital information for themselves.

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

From: Steve Franklin <[e-mail]>
Subject: REMAPPING KEYS WITHIN BASH/SH
Date: 12 Nov 92 16:13:22 GMT
Sender: USENET News <[e-mail]>
Nntp-Posting-Host: thans.cs.dal.ca
To:       [e-mail]


It would be wholly to my benefit to be able to remap keys within the
bash or sh shell, but I'm not quite sure to go about doing this. First of
all, I would like to be able to remap control sequences such as
ESC-8 to -> (right arrow Key). But, can I take this a step further?
Can I map Character sequences to the execution of scripts? I don't see
why not, but I'm not quite sure how I would go about doing this...
   any clues?
Thanks in advance...
steve
--
aasdSteveFranklin-Subliminal Psychology Major.ks;dlasBlueJaysRULEkasdfeahsdbfl
sd;lfaswoq[eBuyMeAQuadra!!!mbnZMXCNdfsba;KdSPAMiuroqiyetIBMSuxiweuryth'ewr;mxn
qpuepriuPartyOneqtuj;,n.,xnc,kjasFlameMeNot!;lkj;lkgkjd;askElvisLivesjhfquweru
[e-mail],sk;t;lrut[[e-mail],Physics!eq3rwkh;oHA

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

From: SW International <[e-mail]>
Subject: grammer checker
Date: 12 Nov 92 17:00:33 GMT
Sender: [e-mail]
Nntp-Posting-Host: solomon.technet.sg
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]
To:       [e-mail]

looking for a grammer checker to complement spell (preferably free!).
using SVR4.
- bkheng@swispl
--
SW International Systems Pte Ltd     |  "I've got a plan so cunning
    14, Science Park Drive           | you could put a tail on it and
    Singapore Science Park           | call it a weasel".. Black Adder
    Singapore 0511                   |
    Tel: [phone]               |
    Fax: [phone]               | [e-mail]

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

From: "Harley Hahn,,,HAHN,personal" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: grammer checker
Date: 14 Nov 92 04:09:03 GMT
Sender: [e-mail]
To:       [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (SW International) writes:
looking for a grammer checker to complement spell (preferably free!). using SVR4
^                  ^                             ^                  ^
|                  |                             |                  |
|                  |                             |                  |

You should have told us it was an emergency :-)

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

From: The Golden Gryphon <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Overflow warnings (SCO SV3.2)
Date: 12 Nov 92 17:50:16 GMT
To:       [e-mail]

[e-mail] writes:

>I have just started getting the fallowing two messages on our 486
>SCO Unix System V/3.2 box
>
>WARNING: Region table overflow
>NOTICE: File table overflow
>
>I suspect the second to be associated with too many file hungry background
>tasks running at the same time.
>
>Can anyone tell me briefly what this means and how to get rid of it
>
>do I need to change the size of some system table?

You need to increase NFILE and NREGION in the kernel.

cd /etc/conf/cf.d
 ./configure

find NREGION and NFILE, and increase their size quite a bit.  I would recommend
doubling them.  Then relink the kernel.  DO THIS IN SINGLE USER MODE!  Back the
system up first.


--
The Golden Gryphon                 [e-mail]
Solve a man's problem and he has 1 less.        No incumbents in 92.
"Mad Scientists seeks mindless brawny assistants, good pay, quite location."
Openage - The Premier SCO UNIX integrator in the Washington D.C. area

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

From: Anthony P Lawrence <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Overflow warnings (SCO SV3.2)
Date: 13 Nov 92 11:43:06 GMT
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL3
To:       [e-mail]

[e-mail] (The Golden Gryphon) writes:
:
:cd /etc/conf/cf.d
:./configure
:
:find NREGION and NFILE, and increase their size quite a bit.  I would recommend
:doubling them.  Then relink the kernel.  DO THIS IN SINGLE USER MODE!  Back the
:system up first.

While this is certainly not bad advice, isn't backing up the system somewhat
like cautioning the use of seatbelts while vacuuming the car?  All that's
really going to be affected is /unix.  I could see making a /unix.good, and
he certainly should have backups anyway, but this makes it all sound very
scary and system-threatening!

What is the point of single user mode? Increasing these parameters doesn't
affect anything but the space in the new kernel, so how is it going to
cause any problems for the running system?

Just wondering why we're being so cautious here.



        Tony

Lawrence & Clark, Inc        [phone]    [phone]
Xenix/Unix support,etc           Boston         Seattle

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

From: Aris Stathakis <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Overflow warnings (SCO SV3.2)
Date: 13 Nov 92 21:40:36 GMT
To:       [e-mail]

In <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:

>I have just started getting the fallowing two messages on our 486
>SCO Unix System V/3.2 box
>
>WARNING: Region table overflow
>NOTICE: File table overflow
>
>I suspect the second to be associated with too many file hungry background
>tasks running at the same time.
>
>Can anyone tell me briefly what this means and how to get rid of it
>
>do I need to change the size of some system table?

Here is something from the SCO it scripts that may be of use:

Kernel tunable parameters and their corresponding error messages.

RELEASE:   SCO UNIX System V/386 Operating System Release Generic

PROBLEM:   The following error messages can be fixed with the
       corresponding kernel tunable parameters.

SOLUTION:

        Kernel Error Message        Parameter
      ----------------------------------------------------------
      iget - inode table overflow        NINODE *

      Timeout table overflow        NCALL

      File table overflow            NFILE *

      mfree map overflow            SPTMAP

      Region table overflow            NREGION

      Configured value of NOFILES is less    NOFILES
         than minimum (greater than max)

      swapdel - too few free pages        MINASMEM

      stropen: out of streams        NSTREAM

      stropen: out of queues        NQUEUE

* = Note that NFILE must be equal to or greater than NINODE,
    contrary to what is in the documentation. Generally,
    they should be about equal.

    Also, NS5INODE must always be equal to or greater than NINODE.
    NS5INODE is the number of System V dependent inodes. NS5INODE
    is not used for DOS filesystems, CD-ROM filesystems, etc.

    In the case of UNIX 3.2v4, NS5INODE is not configurable and
    is automatically set to NINODE.

REFERENCES:  SCO UNIX System V/386 Release 3.2.0 System Administrators Guide
             Chapter 8

             SCO UNIX System V/386 Release 3.2v2 System Administrators Guide
             Chapter 18


--
Aris Stathakis        Tel:[phone] |Gimme a beer and money sandwich -
SCO Unix Support      Fax:[phone] |Hold the bread. - Waldo D.R. Dobbs
Lasernet (Pty) Ltd    X25: 06550 11642692 |_________________________________
P.O. Box 78446, Sandton, 2146, R.S.A       Internet: [e-mail]

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

From: Hahn <[e-mail]>
Subject: IS UNIX DEAD?  (12 of 22)
Date: 12 Nov 92 21:36:04 GMT
Sender: [e-mail]
To:       [e-mail]

This is number 12 in a series of 22 responses to the question:

What do you think about the Byte magazine cover that asked:
IS UNIX DEAD?

(moderated by Harley Hahn)

 ----------
From: [e-mail] (Lon Lowen Jr)

> What do you think about the question "Is Unix Dead?"
> What would you tell someone who asks if this is true?

I'd calmly and politely tell them no.  Since Unix's creation,
it's been steadily growing.  Obviously you know this.  If your
publisher's long distance communication company is AT&T, remind
him he is using Unix every time he makes a long distance call.
When he books a flight, luckily for Unix it is a relatively short
and painless procedure.

I am not a computer scientist.  I am not an engineer or a
programmer.  I am just a guy who wanted to learn as much as I
could about Unix now because I know it is going to be a handy
tool of knowledge later down the career path. My father works for
our local township and told me a few days ago that next year the
township will be purchasing a few SunOS machines.  Unix.

It might be a gamble, but Unix seem to be the only system that
has been consistently growing from day one with little changes--
changes that are considered a 'major upgrade' on PCs.  I'm
gambling on the future of Unix, but I find difficulty losing the
bet.

Thank you.

(By the way, I loved your work on Norton's Unix Guide.  Read the
book cover to cover!) --

==========


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

From: Peter Busser <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: IS UNIX DEAD? (long)
Date: 12 Nov 92 22:23:29 GMT
To:       [e-mail]

[e-mail] (Budi Rahardjo) writes:

>have you ever used 'lvi' (or 'nvi') ?

Where can I FTP the sources?

Greetings,
Peter Busser

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

From: Fergason <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: IS UNIX DEAD? (long)
Keywords: n
Date: 12 Nov 92 22:49:08 GMT
Sender: [e-mail]
To:       [e-mail]


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (David Weisberger) writes:
>Paul Prescod ([e-mail]) wrote:
>
>: If you launch an editor from VI, that editor should be a wordprocessor.  If
>: it is vi, vi should be in wordprocess mode.  If it doesn't, that is a flaw.
>:
>Not to split hairs, but ha ir we go: there is a difference between an
>editor and a wordprocessor.  vi is an editor.  Hey, I even found DOS's
>edlin rapid and effective for making specific, small-scale changes.
>vi and other editors have that advantage, among others.
>
>: If help does nothing at the command prompt.  That is a flaw.
>:
>This is true.

Jumping in the discussion like any true Usenet reader, usually
in the middle of the thread, in which I missed the beginning
and will probably miss the end:

I disagree.  Not having used too many OS's, I can only recall 2
that the help command did something.  Vax VMS, and Microsoft Dos 5.
I take that back, i just thought of Wylbur/MVSX, and VM/CMS.  I believe
help does something on those systems.

Why should help do something at the command prompt?  I would much, much
rather have the hardcopy manual in my hand.  While online help might
be nice, I really just do not see its absence as an inherent flaw.


Kelly

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

From: "Seng-Poh Lee, Speedy" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Needle in a hay stack - nslookup
Date: 12 Nov 92 22:52:40 GMT
Sender: [e-mail]
Nntp-Posting-Host: noel.pd.org
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]
To:       [e-mail]

Mike Sidler ([e-mail]) wrote:
> Given just a hostname, I'm trying to find its Internet address. I know that
> I could do this manually by getting a list of all the domainnames in North America
> and one by one grep nslookup for the hostname. (Haven't been able to get a list
> of domainnames yet).  However, I'm hoping there is a much easier way of doing this.
> I'm trying to get the Internet address so I can email this person. But I don't have
> his phone number or address, only the name of his machine!
>
When you say hostname, I assume you mean just the hostname without the domain
part of it. You could try 'netfind', which allows you to search for hosts and
users based on general information. Telnet to bruno.cs.colorado.edu and
login as netfind. Follow the instructions.

--
Seng-Poh Lee    <[e-mail]>

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: HELP!!! MAJOR DILEMMA!
Date: 13 Nov 92 00:53:58 GMT
To:       [e-mail]

I have a major problem.  I was doing some programming on this application
in Unix.  When I logged out Wednesday night, that was the last time I was
inside the Unix Shell.  It won't let me log in anymore, as root or any
other of the accounts on the system.

So, I booted up the install disk for Unix.  I wanted to use the ua
program, that I knew I could access from there.  But it wouldn't allow me
to use it, it said something like bad grp id.

Help!!!!  Emergency.. if you think you may know the problem let me know.

[e-mail]
 Thanks in advance

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

From: ANDY KUMEDA <[e-mail]>
Subject: Searching for E-mail package
Date: 13 Nov 92 02:05:12 GMT
To:       [e-mail]




We are currently searching for E-mail/Office Automation packages that will
serve several thousand users based on the following criteria:

  1) Must support X-Window (OpenLook or Motif) either through an X-terminal
     or a PC running an X-server.
  2) Must also support PCs running DOS, with a TCP/IP network connection.
  3) In addition, a non-X version (character-based -- ASCII terminals) is
     preferable, but not required.
  4) Must be able to 'customize' -- ie original text to be replied or
     forwarded should not be modifiable.
  5) Must support SMTP.
  6) Vendor must have good technical support.

Is there some type of documentation that compares several different
e-mail packages (features, GUI, customization, price, platforms, etc)?!?

This package must run on Solaris 1.1 or newer.  All clients will have
TCP/IP software, an X-terminal, a PC X-server, an ASCII terminal, or
a combination of the above.

Since we must make a decision by the 20th of November, immediate replies
will be appreciated.  (Please e-mail as I do not follow all newsgroups
that I posted to.)  Thank you.

Andy Kumeda
Naval Weapons Station, Seal Beach
Information Technology Department
[phone]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

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

From: "Steven J. Sobol" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Mail - signature files.
Date: 13 Nov 92 03:22:56 GMT
To:       [e-mail]

[e-mail] writes:
>Is there a way that you can have your signature file automatically appended
>to all your mail messages.
>

Tell me which mail program you're running, and I'll give you a definite
answer.

Cheers,
  Steve    [ former U. of Dayton student! ]

--
Steve Sobol, Prez. The Tiny Software Co * [e-mail] * [e-mail]
CALL APK in Cleveland, Ohio: Telnet/FTP/BBS/Shell/More!   Info: [e-mail]
All for a Reasonable Monthly Rate. Telnet to wariat.org or pick up the phone...
216/481-9425 v.32bis/PEP; 216/481-9445 v.32bis/HST; 216/481-9436 2400 baud.....

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

From: "Felix S. Gallo" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: IS UNIX DEAD? (very long)
Date: 13 Nov 92 03:39:23 GMT
Sender: "Felix S. Gallo" <[e-mail]>
Followup-To: comp.unix.questions
To:       [e-mail]

[e-mail] (Paul Prescod) writes:
>>Hey, why doesn't my toaster ask me for confirmation if I press the little
>>bar without inserting any bread?
>
>Try it, it will usually pop up after a few seconds.

Mine popped up after 45 seconds (cheap Korean brand).  In the same
vein, my microwave doesn't ask for confirmation, my light switches
don't ask for confirmation, and my toilet definitely does not ask
"are you sure? (y/n)".

>>>Why is it, in VI that there is no way (I know of) to get help, or exit,
>>>without knowing the exit key?  What doesn't "h" in command mode present
>>>ANY kind of help?
>>
>>Why doesn't my hard drive realize that I didn't really want to delete
>>that data?  Why don't I have a team of ergonomics specialists sitting
>>at my desk doing all my typing by dictation?
>
>Two different things.  Asking for a help key is really not as
>"pampered" as you would make it out.  As far as the hard drive:
>OS/2 and DOS both have reasonably good undelete procedures.  OS/2 just
>copies the file to a temporary directory in the background.

Asking for a help key under Unix is usually very pampered: the standard
Unix suite of tools are a bunch of non-interactive programs that execute
very simple procedures.  Asking for help under vi is not an issue, as
there are implementations of vi that do provide help and a perfectly fine
man page that supplies pointers on every Unix I've ever seen.

My pick-axe does not have a pop up help window.  My laundry basket does
not have a key I can press to get more information.  If I want to learn
how to use real life tools like those, I eye them critically, attempt
sample inputs, view the sample outputs, and if stumped proceed to the
library to research the topic.  More succinctly, the 'help key' for
most Unix programs is 'man Unix_program'.

>>Again, vi is not a drop-in replacement for Microsoft Write.  It's
>>an extremely powerful editor of text files.  If you want to whine,
>>consider asking Microsoft why they don't have a command line in
>>their editors.
>
>Microsoft has a  *PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE* built into word.  I can't
>imagine why someone would prefer a command line to keystrokes
>and requester windows.

Hear me now and believe me later when I tell you that the ability to
type and keep typing is extremely important for people who want to get
work done.  Do I want pop up windows obscuring my text?  Do I want the
overhead of cheesy graphics?  No, thanks.  I'd rather have the ability
to make mass regexp changes quickly and efficiently and to pipe my text
through formatters, compilers and translators.

But then, we're arguing apples and oranges, as I said before.  You can't
do anything useful with a Microsoft Write file except print it, as far
as I can tell, and I haven't printed anything out in about a month.

>>>Why don't Unix "tools" have a convention about help and exit keys AT THE
>>>VERY LEAST.
>>
>>Control-C works for me.  That, or Control-Z kill %1.
>
>And assembly is a high level language..right.  And your programming language
>of choice is binary.

No, assembly is a low level language, C is my favorite programming language,
and control-c is the de facto standard for process interruption on Unix
systems.  The bit about kill %1 was facetious, but everyone who intends to
use Unix seriously should have control-c pretty firmly imbedded in their
minds.

>>Your lack of attentiveness is simply not our problem.  The bottom of
>>every man page I've seen about 'vi' contains a pointer to the actual
>>vi manual.
>
>Would you like me to mail you our man pages or will you take my word for it
>that it says nothing about other man pages.

I'd like you to mail me your man page as well as the version and vendor
of Unix you're talking about.  I am quite confident that the 'see also'
section lists the actual vi manual itself -- which is not necessarily
a man page, since it's involved, large, and complicated.

>
>>>Why do I have 12 function keys on my keyboard that seem to do absolutely
>>>nothing?
>>
>>dumb question is this?  Are you blaming your keyboard manufacturer's
>>ills on Unix, or are you incoherently expecting that Unix assign some
>>sort of meaning to every key assignable?
>
>No it's not a dumb question.  There is no standard for help in the Unix
>world.  The f keys are seldom used in unix programs.  Most terminals
>have f keys.  It would seem this would be a good time to start convincing
>people to use F1 for help, n'est ce pas?

Definitely not.  My keyboard doesn't have an F1 key.  If it did, there
would be no guarantee that it would produce what your F1 key does.
There are good reasons why nobody uses F-keys -- their original purpose
was to be bindable to whatever the user felt appropriate.

> >>>Why doesn't VI use the jkl; keys for cursor movement, since your fingers
>>>are already on them.  Or why not use keys somewhere far from them.  A
>>>person can easily get confused.
>>
>>Whose fingers are already on them?  Not mine.  If you're having a hard
>>time moving your fingers one key away, might I recommend not using
>>a computer?  These things are dangerous.
>
>It's got nothing to do with difficulty.  It has to do with intelligence.
>With 95% of all keyboards having little bumps on the "home" key it makes
>absolutely NO SENSE to use keys one character right of the home keys
>as cursor keys.  None whatsoever.  Espeicially when h could be a help
>key, instead of wasted on the right arrow, when J should be the right
>arrow.

You mean one character left, but you're still terminally unconscious.
Little bumps on the keyboard don't mandate any sort of cursor control
arrangement whatsoever.  It makes perfect sense to not use ; for a
control key -- it's not right of l on all keyboards, for one thing.
It does NOT make perfect sense to have an unshifted help key in the
middle of the goddamn keyboard in an editor people are supposed to use.
Why don't you take some courses on human-computer interaction and
ergonomics and try to get back to Unix later?

>>>Why does VI default to beeping at you when you try to type as opposed to
>>>editing?
>>
>>Because you're Making a Mistake, and vi appropriately tells you so.
>
>Why is typing text into a text editor "a mistake."  VI should default
>to typing mode.  It would 100% or more user friendly, as well as compatible
>with the other 1000 programs out there that claim to be editors.

Typing text into a text editor is a mistake if you type it while in
movement mode.  Similarly, typing text into Microsoft Windows Word is
a mistake if you type it into a dialogue box or onto the desktop.  So?

I'd like to know where you're going to put me into 'typing mode' when
I go to edit a file of code I'm writing.  At the beginning?  How nice.
At the end?  I don't want to see the end of the file.  Where I left off?
Sorry, that's not stored in ascii files.

>>Again, you're confused.  My vi, and every vi I have used, has dealt with
>>too-long lines in a rational manner.  All my vis also have word-wrap,
>>which you would discover if you took the time to read the man page and
>>read the manual listed at the end of the man page.
>
>Sigh.  See above.

If you think vi should default into word-wrap, you're beyond all hope.
People don't just use vi for the reasons you use vi.  That is why it
is minimally configured when you get your fine Unix system.  You configure
it to your own needs by creating a file called '.exrc' in your home
directory and putting appropriate lines in it.  Read the man page for
more information.

Your cries of agony are nonsensical when you admit to not having even
read the man page closely enough.

>>>Is there a wordwrap mode in VI?  And if so, why doesn't it kick in when I
>>>use VI from RN?
>>
>>a) yes.  b) because your .exrc file is not set up correctly.
>
>How often does someone want to edit news without word wrap?  Wouldn't that
>make it logical to put word wrap in the standard .exrc file?

Editting news is not all vi is used for, to let you in on the Big Secret.

>If you launch an editor from VI, that editor should be a wordprocessor.  If
>it is vi, vi should be in wordprocess mode.  If it doesn't, that is a flaw.

I assume that you meant "if you launch an editor from RN."  Pray tell,
how does vi figure out from where it was launched, and whether or not
that program would necessarily need word-wrap on?  Please go on to
inform me how you've determined that I want word-wrap when I write news --
I don't -- and how you've managed to instantiate artificial intelligence
on any other competing system that you're now comparing with Unix?

>If help does nothing at the command prompt.  That is a flaw.

For you, it's a flaw.  For enough other people, it's not.  Your systems
administrator has decided not to add a file that does something at the
prompt.  Contact him for further information.

>If the cursor keys are illogical that is a flaw.

If they were, then it would be.

>Anything can be improved if we discuss the flaws and discuss ways to improve
>them.  If we treat those that notice flaws as blasphemers, we all end up
>using 1970s text editors in 1992, and unix dies.

Programs do not decay.  vi is unchallenged as a small, powerful text editor;
that it was originally written years ago is just not important.
--
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Felix Sebastian Gallo                              [e-mail]
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

From: Chris Siebenmann <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: IS UNIX DEAD (long)
Date: 13 Nov 92 04:13:12 GMT
To:       [e-mail]

Nicholas Kramer <[e-mail]> writes:
| Even though I'm a Unix person, I kinda like the idea of OS/2's case
| preservation but non-case sensitive. [...] I gotta admit I haven't
| found a whole lot of instances of case sensitivity being useful in file
| names.

 It isn't a question of preservation of case sensetivity; it is a
question of teaching the kernel about case insensetivity. Right now,
the kernel doesn't know anything about the character set you (or
anyone else on the system) is using; all it knows about are two
special 8-bit blobs, one for 'end of filepath' and another for
'filepath sepperator'. If you teach it about case insensetivity,
it is now working in whatever character set you chose, and people
who wish to use it with other ones are out of luck.

 This is not academic; people use non-ASCII character sets on
Unix today (either augmented with extra characters or completely
replaced; JIS, for example). If you must do this, you had better
think *very* carefully about what character set you are going
to use and how much you are going to have to change. There are
some interesting Plan 9 papers that touch on this issue; interested
people are directed to /dist/plan9man on research.att.com for
more information.

 I am dubious that you could make the change to case sensetivity on a
system today and really be able to call the end result 'Unix'. Does
anyone know if POSIX.1 mandates the current Unix behavior?

--
    When we get calls from faculty and staff regarding problematic
    software, we always ask if they have a backup.  We got this
    *classic* response today "Well, I thought I had a backup, but
    she refused to type it in again..."    - Lou Anschuetz
[e-mail]               ...!{utgpu,utzoo,watmath}!utgpu!cks

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

From: Astria_Nicole PRICE <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: diff in scripts again
Date: 13 Nov 92 07:14:41 GMT
Sender: [e-mail]
To:       [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Ryan A. Whelan) writes:
> In article <ssuhook.720712389@reading> [e-mail] (Roger Neil Hook) writes:
> >Why on earth have we got an article from this place in cs.general????
>
> what IS cs.general ANYWAY!?!?!?!?!
>
Well I always thought it was the newsgroup of the computer science
department at my university.

Obviously wrong.

A bit embarrassed really.


                _________________________          [e-mail] ****
        ****** /  .  /  ___/     /  /  / ****     [e-mail]
        **** /     /__   /  /  /  /  / *****     [e-mail]
        ** /__/__/_____/__/_____/__/ ******     [e-mail]

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

From: John 'Fritz' Lowrey <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Whence Unix? (was Re: IS UNIX DEAD?) (New Thread?)
Date: 13 Nov 92 07:36:13 GMT
NNTP-Posting-Host: skat.usc.edu
To:       [e-mail]


    Folks,
    Since it is now fairly clear that text processing and/or game
playing became important uses for Unix early on.  I also seem to recall
that curses(3) was developed in part so that HACK could be made terminal
independent.
    So, a new thread perhaps: what other now-major (or was-major)
tools, operating systems, or hardware were developed for use in a
sub-mission critical or downright frivilous application, and later
became standards far removed from the initial intent?

    My seed:
    Microsoft DOS    ->    Intended as a stepping stone while DR
                wrapped up CP/M-86, and now the program
                loader of choice for countless millions.


--
        "...now it is my karmic burden         | J. "Fritz" Lowrey
         to stack cat food..."                 | Internet: [e-mail]

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

From: Tod McQuillin <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Whence Unix? (was Re: IS UNIX DEAD?) (New Thread?)
Date: 13 Nov 92 21:57:49 GMT
To:       [e-mail]

[e-mail] (Steve VanDevender) writes:
> curses(3) was developed for rogue(6).  hack, and then NetHack,
> came much later.

I don't think this is exactly right.

From a paper entitled "Screen Updating and Cursor Movement
Optimization: A Library Package", by Kenneth C. R. C. Arnold:

          Acknowledgements

               This package would not exist without the work  of  Bill
          Joy,  who,  in writing his editor, created the capability to
          generally describe terminals, wrote the routines which  read
          this  database, and, most importantly, those which implement
          optimal cursor movement, which routines I have simply lifted
          nearly  intact.   Doug Merritt and Kurt Shoens also were ex-
          tremely important,  as  were  both  willing  to  waste  time
          listening  to  me rant and rave.  The help and/or support of
          Ken Abrams, Alan Char, Mark Horton, and Joe Kalash, was, and
          is, also greatly appreciated.

This is the document from which I learned curses.  I don't know when
it was written, but it says it was revised 16 April 1986.

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

From: Harley Hahn <[e-mail]>
Subject: automating anonymous ftp login
Date: 13 Nov 92 07:42:58 GMT
Sender: [e-mail]
To:       [e-mail]

I am trying to make ftp automatically default to a login of
anonymous.  I created an .netrc file with:

default login anonymous

but it doesn't work.  The default is still my userid.

What I am doing wrong?

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

From: Shobhana <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: automating anonymous ftp login
Date: 14 Nov 92 11:56:02 GMT
To:       [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Harley Hahn) writes:
>I am trying to make ftp automatically default to a login of
>anonymous.  I created an .netrc file with:
>
>default login anonymous
>
>but it doesn't work.  The default is still my userid.

Try using "user anonymous email-address"

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

From: Michael Salmon <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Vi-question
Date: 13 Nov 92 08:07:19 GMT
Sender: [e-mail]
Nntp-Posting-Host: eos6c02.ericsson.se
To:       [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]>,
[e-mail] (Tom Parker) writes:
|> In article <[e-mail]>
|> [e-mail] (S. Vemula) writes:
|> >Hi,
|> >
|> >     Sometime back, somebody mailed on how to use arrow keys in insert mode
|> >     also, to move around in the document.  I think, it is by mapping the
|> >     arrow keys.  Could somebody mail me as how i have to set up my keys.
|> >
|> >     thanks,
|> >     Shank Vemula
|>
|>
|> I do it with these lines in my .exrc file:
|>
|> " Allow arrow keys to work in VI "text insert" mode
|> :map! ^[OA ^[ka
|> :map! ^[OB ^[ja
|> :map! ^[OC ^[la
|> :map! ^[OD ^[ha

Under SunOS 4.1.1 I needed to insert ^V's before the ^[ in my .exrc, I
also think that it is better to map left arrow to ^[i as ^[ha will not
work in column 1.

--

Michael Salmon

#include    <standard.disclaimer>
#include    <witty.saying>
#include    <fancy.pseudo.graphics>

Ericsson Telecom AB
Stockholm

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

From: Michael Salmon <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Getting a file's size with the FILE data structure
Date: 13 Nov 92 08:21:44 GMT
Sender: [e-mail]
Nntp-Posting-Host: eos6c02.ericsson.se
To:       [e-mail]

In article <l=[e-mail]>,
[e-mail] (Ron Cecchini) writes:
|> Hi again,
|>
|>  I found that you can use the FILE ds to get a file's size.  However,
|> there seems to be a glitch with it.  For one, the data structure is
|> NOT initialized after the fopen().  So, thats no good.  And you can't try
|> to fseek() to the beginning and look at ->_cnt.  What I found you have to do
|> is: fgets() a line from the file and *THEN* fseek() back to the beginning
|> of the file.  *NOW* ->_cnt contains the size of the file.
|>
|> Ron
|>
|> p.s. I have received info on using the stat() command to also get the info.
|>

You don't mention which system you are using and so perhaps this works
for you but I doubt that it is portable. ->_cnt is the number of
characters left in the buffer, for reads this is the number of
characters last read from the file minus the number of characters read
from the buffer. Hence when you use fgets() (getc is equally good) then
fseek() to the beginning you have filled the buffer, then reset the
pointers and _cnt to the beginning of the buffer. ->_cnt will hence
contain the file size if and only if the file is smaller than the
buffer. All of the above applies only if stdio uses read() and write(),
systems using mmap() will exhibit different characteristics and your
observations are then most likely correct.

--

Michael Salmon

#include    <standard.disclaimer>
#include    <witty.saying>
#include    <fancy.pseudo.graphics>

Ericsson Telecom AB
Stockholm

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

From: Peter Allott <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re grep
Date: 13 Nov 92 10:57:43 GMT
Sender: [e-mail]
To:       [e-mail]

Yesterday I ask why grep was so called?
Today I've had about a dozen replys

The best from Curt Tilmes <[e-mail]>
who quotes "The jargon file"

grep: /grep/ [from the qed/ed editor idiom g/re/p , where
   re stands for a regular expression, to Globally search for the
   Regular Expression and Print the lines containing matches to it,
   via {{UNIX}} `grep(1)'] vt. To rapidly scan a file or file set
   looking for a particular string or pattern.  By extension, to look
   for something by pattern.  "Grep the bulletin board for the system
   backup schedule, would you?"  See also {vgrep}.

Thank you all - Please stop!

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

From: "Durrant;f110or89;[05306" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Info wanted on UNIX std?
Date: 13 Nov 92 11:55:34 GMT
To:       [e-mail]


I am currently doing some research for a disertation for the final
year of my degree in computer science. I have chosen to do the
research on unix and its standadisation.

I therefore interested if any one has any interesting articles on
unix stadadisation on SVR4 or OSF/1 or perhaps other standards. I
am finding that articles are hard and slow to get hold of through
interlibrary loans so any electronic articles you can send me
would be of use.

I'm also intresting in peoples views of what might happen to unix in
the next few years. So please send me any strong view you have.

My reseach has covered some intresting articles such as
IS UNIX DEAD from Byte
THE CASE AGAINST UNIX STANDARDS from UKUUG comference
and is now heading in the direction of the following questions:

Will open systems save unix?

Has POSIX compatibility on proprietry systems (eg OPEN VMS) killed
unix?

Is SVR4 the new unix standard?

Will any one use OSF/1?

Will Windows NT replace UNIX?

Also does any one know if open systems has taken unix SVR4 to be
its standard, and if any other POSIX standards besides 1003.1 have
become ISO standards.


Thanks for you help

Jon Durrant ([e-mail]) JANET address

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: How to give root permission to user??
Date: 13 Nov 92 13:31:07 GMT
To:       [e-mail]

I would like to create a script file that will do some commands that only root
is allowed to do. How do I allow users to use this file to see the results?

I think it is in the 'chmod', but I am not sure.

I would appreciate any answers e-mailed to me, because I am not in this group
too often.

Thanks for any help.


Ken Bauer
Systems Analyst      [e-mail]
PENN. STATE - ERIE, The Behrend College

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

From: Brian Fitzgerald <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: How to give root permission to user??
Date: 13 Nov 92 14:47:25 GMT
Nntp-Posting-Host: mml0.meche.rpi.edu
To:       [e-mail]

<[e-mail]> writes:
>I would like to create a script file that will do some commands that only root
>is allowed to do. How do I allow users to use this file to see the results?
>
>I think it is in the 'chmod', but I am not sure.

The question is answered in the comp.security.misc FAQ.  The article
contains the reasons why suid shell scripts are unsafe, and information
about suid binary programs.

Brian

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: CFP: CSAM93 Computer Congress
Date: 13 Nov 92 13:33:13 GMT
Sender: USENET 'No news is bad news' News System <[e-mail]>
Originator: [e-mail]
To:       [e-mail]

******* FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT AND CALL FOR SESSIONS AND PAPERS ************


      INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON COMPUTER SYSTEMS AND APPLIED MATHEMATICS

                           19-23 JULY 1993

                        ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA

Organized by Center of Modern Communications, University of St.
Petersburg

THE AIMS  of the  Congress are  to provide  a forum  to explore common
interests  and  interplay  across   disciplines,   and  to  bring   to
practicing  researchers  recent  advances   and the state  of the  art
in  all  areas  of  computer  science,  scientific computing, software
engineering,  applied  and  computational  mathematics.  The  official
language  of  the  Congress  is  English  and  only  papers  submitted
in English  will  be considered.

THE TOPICS  highlighted by  the Congress  include, but are not limited
to: Programming   Languages;      Numerical    Analysis;  Differential
Equations;   Inverse Problems; Fluid Dynamics; Quantum and Statistical
Mechanics; Applied  Probability and Statistics; Theory  of  Computing;
Scientific  Computation;      Parallel   Processing;   Supercomputing;
Optimization and  Operations   Research;  Software    Engineering  and
Compiler Construction;  Symbolic Computation;    CASE  Tools;    Fuzzy
Systems;  Databases;  Networks; Neural Nets;  Artificial Intelligence;
Expert  Systems;   Computer  Graphics;  Computer  Vision    and  Image
Processing; Data  Security; Simulation and Modelling; Electromagnetics
and Semiconductors;  Medicine  and  Biology;  Mathematical  Education;
Dynamical Systems;  Economics and   Management; Environmental Science;
Manufacturing Systems; Material Science;

MINISYMPOSIA PROPOSAL:
The Program Committee invites you, as a potential organizer, to submit
a proposal  for a  minisymposium. A  minisymposium is a session of 3-6
speakers focusing  on a  single topic.  The organizers   should submit
the title(s)  of the session(s) they propose to the  Program Committee
as soon as possible. Minisymposium organizers are responsible  for the
scientific quality   of  papers in  their sessions,  consequently  all
papers invited by  organizers are automatically accepted.

CONTRIBUTED PAPERS/POSTER PRESENTATIONS:
The   program   will  also include contributed paper  sessions   (20 -
minute presentation), posters,  and industrial  exhibits. Authors  are
invited   to submit  to  the CSAM'93  Program  Committee  a  one  page
abstract   and indicate  if they  prefer an  oral or  poster  session.
Authors may  suggest the  title(s)   of   appropriate  session(s)  for
their   paper. Manuscripts of  papers presented  at the  Congress will
be   published   as CSAM'93  Proceedings after  the Congress. A volume
containing all  abstract of the accepted papers and description of all
minisymposia including titles and speakers known  by May 1, 1993, will
be available  to the  participants at  the  Congress. Late  papers and
sessions, if  accepted, may  be presented  at the Congress and will be
listed in the Supplementum to the final program.

DEADLINES:
Minisymposium proposals:  As soon  as possible; Early submissions due:
February  1,   1993;  Normal   submissions  due:  May  1,  1993;  Late
submissions: After May 1, 1993.

EXHIBITOR INFORMATION:
Booths and  tables will  be available  to companies wishing to display
their products and/or services.

WHY COME TO CSAM'93 ?
Besides  the  privilege  of  hearing  the  invited  talks of leading
specialists you will  have the pleasure to listen  to other lectures
and to meet colleagues from many countries. The congress is the first
to offer really extensive contacts with people "from behind the iron
curtain". It  takes place in the  Northern Venice - St. Petersburg,
one of the most fascinating cities  in Europe.
Excellent accomodation in the Congress Centrum is offered at
reasonable cost. Accopanying persons are welcome.

Send inquires  for further  information, proposals  for  minisymposia,
and two copies of the abstract to:
 Dr. Sergey S. Voitenko
 Director, Center of Modern Communications,
 University of St. Petersburg
 14th Line 29
 199178 St. Petersburg
 Russia
 e-mail: [e-mail]

Outside of  Ex-USSR and  Eastern Europe proposals for minisymposia and
abstracts can be also send to Dimitri Shiriaev
 e-mail: [e-mail]
 -----------------------Cut Here------------------------------------------------

                         FORM OF INTENTION

Name:

Affiliation:

Address:


Check as appropriate:

I plan to attend CSAM'93 and to :

 - organize a Session/Group of Sessions

 - contribute a 20 min lecture

 - present a poster

 - present a computer demonstration

Provisional title(s) of contributed session(s)/paper:

Although I have not yet decided to attend I wish to

 - stay on the mailing list

Date:                         Signature:

Please mail this form to Dimitri Shiriaev
 e-mail: [e-mail]
 Subject: CSAM93

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: sum -r source/algorithm
Keywords: checksum computation
Date: 13 Nov 92 15:09:50 GMT
NNTP-Posting-Host: ze8.rz.uni-duesseldorf.de
To:       [e-mail]

Hello Unix-Users!

I would like to implement a similar command as "sum -r" to MS-DOS and was
wondering if there is an exact description of the used algorithm or even
a source code.

Please mail suggestions, answers, sources etc directly to me!

Thanks -- Jochen

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

From: Robert Perlberg <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: net.views - mainframe programmers in an open systems world
Date: 13 Nov 92 18:47:15 GMT
To:       [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Jitze Couperus) writes:
} [e-mail] (Don Nelson) writes:
}
} >In article <[e-mail]> Mitch Wagner,
} >[e-mail] writes:
} >>
} >>           Is it possible to put the skills of mainframe programmers
} >>           to use in open environments? If so, how?
} >>
} >>
} >I'm having a little trouble understanding the question.  Perhaps you
} >could explain in 25 words or less why mainframe programmers differ from
} >programmers in "the open world" (which is definitely not as open as some
} >people think).  Most mainframe programmers work on business applications

} For example - years ago the industry discovered the benefits
} of separating screen definitions from the body of the
} application's code (much like separating the DDL for a database
} from the DML). This is still rarely provided by the "open"
} Cobol compilers, so users frequently resort to separate screen
} design/handling packages (e.g. JAM from JYACC) to avoid
} entangling such stuff inside the application's code itself.

It has never been necessary for device-specific or system-specific code
to be embedded within the application.  Good programmers have always
written programs in a modular fashion such that if the application
needs to be ported, only the system-specific modules need to be
modified, not the application code.  My view of mainframe programmers
is that they don't do modular programming because they don't understand
which aspects of the system may vary from one system to another since
the system they are using is the only system they have ever known.

Robert Perlberg
Dean Witter Reynolds Inc., New York
{murphy | philabs}!dwrsun4!perl
    -- "I am not a language ... I am a free man!"

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

From: Paul Penrod <[e-mail]>
Subject: MDBM and PCOMM
Date: 14 Nov 92 03:04:17 GMT
Sender: usenet  <[e-mail]>
Nntp-Posting-Host: crg8.sequent.com
To:       [e-mail]

Can anyone tell me where I can find the multiple key version of
DBM, known as MDBM? I have the old source to DBM, but it is a few
years old and in need of some update.

Also, I am looking for the Procomm Plus communications package
workalike for UNIX call PCOMM.

Thanks in advance...

 ...Paul

--
 --------------------------------------------------------------------
            Bureaucracy: noun, plural - Bureaucracies.
         The process of turning energy into solid waste.
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------

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

From: "Arthur X. Nghiem" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Help wanted with Thompson Toolkit (Thompson Automation)
Date: 14 Nov 92 05:53:07 GMT
Sender: [e-mail]
Originator: [e-mail]
To:       [e-mail]

Hello,


I'm looking for someone to talk with that knows "The Thompson Toolkit."
I'm starting a project that involves this environment.  I would really
apreciate any information on appropriate news groups to read, gurus to
talk to, and Internet addresses to the people at Thompson Automation.

Please Email me any help and/or suggestions.


Thank you,


Arthur Nghiem     [e-mail]


P.S.

         Thompson Automation
         5616 SW Jefferson
         Portland, OR 97221
         [phone]

--
|  (|/ '()` <()/    ________________________________________________
 _ O        .> |   / Arthur X. Nghiem  [e-mail]
  /_/  -__ -- /    \                   PO Box 7103-Austin, Tx 78713
          ---

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

From: Paolo Remagnino <[e-mail]>
Subject: *** HELP:: Linux Xserver ***
Keywords: hercules
Date: 14 Nov 92 16:13:10 GMT
Sender: Paolo Remagnino <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]


  Hi there,

 last nite, with the help of two of my brilliant friends, I managed
to install Liunx on my ibm-pc clone 386 with 4 megs of RAM and 41 mags
of hard disk !
The problem did pop up when I tried to install X11R5 ! I have a hercules
card, and I realized that there were no drive for such card, we almost committed
suicide. Linux installed with SLS is piss easy, but what about the Hercules driver
and relative Xserver ?

 Has anybody succeded to get or to build an Xserver for a Hercules graphic card ?

 I would be delited to know !


        thanx ain advance for any help,



        Paolo

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

From: Bob Lee <[e-mail]>
Subject: Unattended execution
Date: 14 Nov 92 16:14:58 GMT
Sender: Bob Lee <[e-mail]>
To:       [e-mail]


This is a question to all you Unix experts out there.

There is a task I want to perform, it includes recursively searching over
200 directories and over 1000 files for an occurance of a text string in
any of the files. As you probably guessed, this task takes quite a while
and I want to do it for more than one text string.

Is there any way to get this process to perform after I logoff, like an
unattended session. I know CTRL-Z suspends the process but that's not what
I need. I figure I can execute the process, re-route output to a file,
logoff, and then log back on 3 hours later to see the results.

Please e-mail any helpful information you may have since I don't read this
newsgroup very often.

Thanks!

-BOB

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

From: Earl Mccoy <emccoy@next383>
Subject: Public domain src for "ttype"
Keywords: src ttype pd
Date: 14 Nov 92 18:04:23 GMT
Sender: [e-mail]
Nntp-Posting-Host: next383.is.rpslmc.edu
To:       [e-mail]

Can someone point to a public domain c source for a "ttype"-like program
that returns one's terminal type? I wish to use it to set TERM as in
TERM=`ttype`. Thanks in advance. Earl McCoy [e-mail]

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

From: Jason M Ferguson <[e-mail]>
Subject: C Program error
Date: 14 Nov 92 18:44:52 GMT
Sender: [e-mail]
To:       [e-mail]

Hi! I am beta-testing a unix program, but seem to have bitten off more than I
can chew. The following line barfs during the compilation:

typedef void (*setvarproc)(char , int);

    My system is running HP-UNIX. Does anyone see the problem with
this? I realise the idea is to create a special variable type, and
suspect the problem is syntax. Any help would be appreciated.

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


End of INFO-UNIX Digest
***********************