Return to BSD News archive
Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!nntp.coast.net!chi-news.cic.net!newsfeed.internetmci.com!howland.reston.ans.net!agate!tfs.com!mailhub.tfs.com!julian
From: julian@mailhub.tfs.com (Julian Elischer)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc,comp.unix.advocacy
Subject: Pthreads support,(Was: Win32 CreateThread()....)
Date: 10 Dec 1995 01:23:29 GMT
Organization: TRW Financial Systems, Oakland, CA
Lines: 60
Message-ID: <4adcqh$4fg@times.tfs.com>
References: <4ab85f$idq@news.voicenet.com> <DJBt1u.GFD@tigger.jvnc.net>
NNTP-Posting-Host: mailhub.tfs.com
Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:10825 comp.unix.advocacy:12392
In article <DJBt1u.GFD@tigger.jvnc.net>, John Lucas <jlucas@uvi.edu> wrote:
>In article <4ab85f$idq@news.voicenet.com>, 900RR (900RR) wrote:
>>
>There are versions of "Unix" that support threaded execution: NextStep, Mach,
>OS/F-1 and AIX (there are probably more). NetBSD apparently supports user-level
>POSIX threads with some plans to make a threaded kernal an option.
I believe the NetBSD code is absed on Cris Provenso's MIT pthreads
package.. FreeBSD also has access to the same package.
>
>There is a discussion about adding POSIX threads to FreeBSD, but I got no answer
>to my query about plans to support them in FreeBSD's future.
Sorry I never saw your question..
You know you really should ask questions at "questions@freebsd.org"
as many people don't always get to look at news..
We are (well not myself, I'm just co-ordinating) adding
threads support to the Libc at the moment..
we can expect it to be complete within a month..
we are also adding TWO (count'em 1, 2) pthreads packages to the
standard system and there's a third on the horizon..
The first is the MIT pthreads package which has been
written to be portable across a large number of OS's .
the second is a variant of the first with some differences in such
things as signal handling, and has some thread pre-emtive capabilities.
This is being put in just to give more breadth..
the third, is a pthreads package from a florida University,
but I don't have any mor einformation other than that..
(in fact if anyone has more info please contact me)
> If anyone knows
>anything about plans for POSIX threads in FreeBSD (user-level and/or
>kernal-based) please let me know; I would like to see if Dartmouth's "BlitzMail"
>could be ported to FreeBSD and it requires POSIX threads or "cthreads".
We have plans to impliment 'rfork' too where processes share a filetable
and memory space.. this gives the apperance of threads and
can be used in conjunction with LWP to have a certain number
of LWP's spread over a smaller number of actual processes.
this allows some LWP's to block..
LWPs can migrate from shared process to shared process..
I had 'cthreads' running.. that was an easy port..
(about 4 hours) (don't have it right here though..)
>
>Threads are just another name for "lighweight process"; you often need
>"heavyweight processes" too. :-}
We plan also "middle-weight processes" (see above.)
+----------------------------------+ ______ _ __
| __--_|\ Julian Elischer | \ U \/ / On assignment
| / \ julian@tfs.com +------>x USA \ in a very strange
| ( OZ ) 300 lakeside Dr. oakland CA. \___ ___ | country !
+- X_.---._/ USA+(510) 645-3137(wk) \_/ \\ ><DARWIN>
v LL LL