need BSD and System V VM/paging expertise

[Geoff Kuenning]

In article <429 at rtech.UUCP> daveb at rtech.UUCP (Dave Brower) writes:

> In article <251 at desint.UUCP> geoff at desint.UUCP (Geoff Kuenning) writes:>
>>Some of you may have noticed that I am writing the "UNIX and Real-Time"
>>chapter of "The UNIX Papers".  As part of shooting off my mouth, I find
>>that I need to be able to talk about the System V virtual memory
>>system and compare it to the BSD implementation.  Unfortunately, I don't
>>know much about either, and don't have access to the sources.
> 
> At the risk of being flippant, how can you then be qulified to write
> about these subjects?  It sure makes me question the credibility of
> the finished work.  

I'd suggest you learn to read before passing judgement.  As it happens,
I am not writing about either of these subjects;  it's just that
I need to mention them in passing.  It also happens that I *do* know
quite a bit about these subjects, but there are people on the net who
know still more.  In the interests of accuracy, I made a request for
more information from those people.  I guess it was predictable that the
smaller-minded folks on the net wouldn't be able to resist sneering.

> I think I'd be much happier if, say, Doug Gwyn, John Quarterman, or
> Henry Spencer wrote such a comparison, instead of someone who can't read
> the code.

If the paper were titled "A Detailed Technical Comparison of
the BSD, VMS, and System V Paging Systems," I too would prefer Doug,
John, or Henry.  However, as you quoted (but did not read,
apparently), the title of the paper is "UNIX and Real-Time".  It happens
that the behavior of the paging subsystem can be critical to the
performance of a real-time application (if you don't understand why, I
suggest you buy the book when it comes out and do a little learning for
a change).  Since I don't have complete information about the behavior
of these pagers, I made a polite request for help.  I phrased it deprecatingly,
as is my wont;  this is not the same as saying I am ignorant.  The
final material on this subject will likely comprise a single paragraph,
and will be accurate, precisely because I took the time and effort to
check out my facts.  

As to the accusation that I "can't read the code", I'd like to know
exactly where you got your evidence.  People who have worked with me
must be rolling in the aisles at that one.  In fact, I can read and have
read both the V.0 and the 4.2 kernels, among many others (and not just
limited to UNIX).  However, as I stated in my original posting, I do
not currently have legal access to any UNIX code that would allow me to
check the accuracy of my memory.  I find it sourly amusing that a
request for help from those who *do* have access has generated a
totally unsupported (and totally unsupportable) accusation of rampant
ignorance.

> Is the the same "UNIX papers" by the same publisher who someone else
> accused of ridicuously low author royalty rates?  Might this be
> adversely affecting the quality of submissions?

There is a difference between an accusation and a conviction.  This is
not my first book contract, and I do not feel "ripped off" about the
royalties, despite the fact that my first contract gave me 10% of all sales,
and this one only gives me a one-time flat per-page fee.  In the first
place, I am a businessman and I understand the extra costs the Waite
group must incur in a multi-author project.  In the second place, anybody
who expects to get rich writing a single technical book is a ripe candidate
for buying the Brooklyn Bridge.  And in the third place, anybody who
thinks that the Waite Group's royalties are too low is perfectly
welcome to send his book proposal to Wiley, Prentice, Van Nostrand, or
any of a host of other publishers.

Now can we stop this childishness and get back to the technical issues
this group is supposed to be for?
-- 

	Geoff Kuenning
	{hplabs,ihnp4}!trwrb!desint!geoff