*BSD News Article 66738


Return to BSD News archive

Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!news.rmit.EDU.AU!news.unimelb.EDU.AU!munnari.OZ.AU!news.ecn.uoknor.edu!paladin.american.edu!news.jhu.edu!boingo.amil.jhu.edu!europa.chnt.gtegsc.com!gatech!newsfeed.internetmci.com!uwm.edu!newsspool.doit.wisc.edu!koala.uwec.edu!daffy.anetsrvcs.uwrf.edu!cakerwood!not-for-mail
From: bl03@uwrf.edu (BENJAMIN A LINDSTROM)
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.development.system,comp.unix.bsd.386bsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc,comp.unix.bsd.netbsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc,comp.os.linux.advocacy
Subject: Re: Historic Opportunity facing Free Unix
Followup-To: comp.os.linux.development.system,comp.unix.bsd.386bsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc,comp.unix.bsd.netbsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc,comp.os.linux.advocacy
Date: 23 Apr 1996 02:58:05 GMT
Lines: 29
Message-ID: <4lhgvt$n14@daffy.anetsrvcs.uwrf.edu>
References: <NELSON.96Apr15010553@ns.crynwr.com> <p5d9562lir.fsf@lemming.wellfleet.com> <4l5nf6$4r4@dyson.iquest.net> <p5ivexw9d4.fsf@lemming.wellfleet.com> <4l8aqt$944@dyson.iquest.net> <31799591.69F78CE7@wolfenet.com>
NNTP-Posting-Host: cakerwood.acc.uwrf.edu
X-Newsreader: TIN [UNIX 1.3 950726BETA PL0]
Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.os.linux.development.system:22115 comp.unix.bsd.386bsd.misc:792 comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc:3446 comp.unix.bsd.netbsd.misc:3301 comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:17986 comp.os.linux.advocacy:46821

Mark Hamstra (mhamstra@wolfenet.com) wrote:
[..]
: I am convinced that conversion of Unix 'power-apps' to Linux and other free Unices
: (FreeBSD in particular) combined with the huge number of existing free software
: packages and a future 'small-fry' emulation environment (for Word and other potential
: 'deal breakers') has good potential to wrest some of the 'desktop turf' away from MS.
: Enough so, in fact, that I will be working this summer on just such a port of a
: commercial 'power app' --I can't divulge full details now, but some helpful hints
: should be obvious from this message ;-).  It is for this reason that I enquired about
: the status of Linux binary compatibility in FreeBSD: the port will be done for Linux,
: but if there is anything I can easily do to guarantee that it will also run under
: FreeBSD, I would gladly do so.
: 
FreeBSD has a Linux Emulator, but I know if I was FreeBSD I would not 
take to kindly to it. =)  But as for code portablity...If you get
something ported into Linux.  I don't believe your that far away
from taking a step farther and porting it to FreeBSD.

With software like "autoconf" laying around the net.  It makes it 
much easier to detect and conform to different UNIX platforms with
out too much hell.  Granted you'll still have #ifdef _LINUX_ type
statments like like you'll have #ifdef _SGI_ or others systems.

Hmm..a CAD program for Linux/X...That would be rather nice....If it had
the flexability of AutoCAD (or the ability for plug-in type modules) that
would be rather sweet. =)

---
Ben Lindstrom (mouring@netnet.net) http://www.djmix.com/~mouring