4.2 progressive or dead end

[rsk at PURDUE.ARPA]

From:  Rsk the Wombat <rsk at PURDUE.ARPA>


> But I don't know anyone running 4.2 who thinks it's Truly Wonderful.

Perhaps the same could be said for v6, 2.8bsd, v7, v32, SIII, etc.  Does that
mean 4.2 is crap?

> Those who have gone through the painful cut-over are in a better position
> to say than I.  

We didn't find it painful at all.  It went very smoothly, and although 4.2
has its problems, we are pleased with its features and performance.

> In certain quarters the perception is that Bell Lab Edition 8
> would stomp all over 4.2 if it would be released.

In certain quarters the perception is that Berkeley 4.3 would stomp all over
4.2 if it would be released.  But it's not...yet.  So, for practical purposes,
it's probably not worth talking about.

> It still amazes me that, simply because a bunch of grad student hacker droids
> at Berkeley unleashed 4.2 (with *gasp* SENDMAIL) on us, the Unix community
> feels so obliged to accept.

But if *real* programmers had done it, it would have turned out better, eh?
Sendmail was done by Eric Allman, anyhow...who is not, I believe, a grad 
student hacker droid.  Additionally, I am not aware of any instances of 
Berkeley people flitting about twisting arms in order to get folks
to convert to 4.2BSD.

Proud to be a grad student hacker droid,
----
Rich Kulawiec
UUCP: { allegra, decvax, ihnp4, harpo, teklabs, ucbvax } !pur-ee!rsk
      { cornell, eagle, hplabs, ittvax, lanl-a, ncrday } !purdue!rsk