Subject: Re: definitive file utils
To: djgpp AT sun DOT soe DOT clarkson DOT edu
Date: Mon, 17 Oct 1994 14:14:05 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Bill Perkins" <billp AT datamax DOT oau DOT org>


> >  I'm not real sure just what the Backus ports are, but I've FTP'd the orig.
> > fileutils and such from the Free Software Foundation, and they seemed to
> > compile OK, with a few changes and a hand-tweaked makefile. Does anybody
> > have suggestions as to where to FTP them to once I've put together the
> > 'Diff' files and watt knot?
> 
> Beware of such simple-minded ports.  While most GNU (and otherwise Unix)
> programs would compile without a single warning in DJGPP, they will refuse
> to run under DOS in best case and will have subtle bugs in the worst.
> Some reasons are:
> 
> 	1) library functions which intentionally fail at run time (like
> signal(), fork() and others).
> 
> 	2) file I/O is different with text and binary files (try compiling
> cp, then use it to copy a binary file, like .exe).
> 
> 	3) DOS limitations and peculiarities, like 8.3 filenames, drive
> letter as part of filename, etc.

Thanks to all who have replied to this line of inquiry. These are all good
points, and before I go releasing anything, I will address all these issues.
Right now, I have changed everything over to use O_BINARY for I/O (I ran into
that problem early), and will continue collecting your input until it runs
dry. The idea was to provide some of the more common (and useful) utilities
for us poor MS-DOS users who cannot (or will not) invest in the hardware needed
for LINUX or MINIX or whatever. The UNIX utilities make a lot more sense, it's
a pity we were straddled with an OS that just isn't as good as some of the
others. The DJGPP compiler goes a long ways to provide some decent tools for
programmers and regular users, and I will make a substantial contribution to
the growing library in the near future.
		Regards,
		Perk.

perk AT gate DOT net, aka. billp AT datamax DOT oau DOT org