In article <k5n2tcFtd0kU9@mid.individual.net>,
bill <bill.gunshannon@gmail.com> wrote:
>On 2/22/2023 10:08 AM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
>>
>>
>> While you're at it, feel free to call someone at Oracle and ask them to
>> open-source SunOS 4.1.4. If you can actually get someone to understand
>> that SunOS is different than Solaris you'll have got farther than anyone else
>> ever has.
>
>Why would anyone want SunOS 4.1.4 open sourced? There is nothing
>there that isn't in any of the BSD's that are already available
>and include versions that run on Sun hardware. I can see Oracle's
>reluctance to waste any time or money doing anything with any
>version of SunOS. Assuming they even still have copies of any of it!!

I can think of two reasons:

1. Nostalgia (and hobbyists)
2. The virtual memory subsystem

The VM system in SunOS 4 was very clean. Fortunately, this is
one of the things that was carried over in large part to Solaris
2.

- Dan C.

Dan Cross <cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net> wrote:
>In article <k5n2tcFtd0kU9@mid.individual.net>,
>bill <bill.gunshannon@gmail.com> wrote:
>>On 2/22/2023 10:08 AM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> While you're at it, feel free to call someone at Oracle and ask them to
>>> open-source SunOS 4.1.4. If you can actually get someone to understand
>>> that SunOS is different than Solaris you'll have got farther than anyone else
>>> ever has.
>>
>>Why would anyone want SunOS 4.1.4 open sourced? There is nothing
>>there that isn't in any of the BSD's that are already available
>>and include versions that run on Sun hardware. I can see Oracle's
>>reluctance to waste any time or money doing anything with any
>>version of SunOS. Assuming they even still have copies of any of it!!
>
>I can think of two reasons:
>
>1. Nostalgia (and hobbyists)
>2. The virtual memory subsystem
>
>The VM system in SunOS 4 was very clean. Fortunately, this is
>one of the things that was carried over in large part to Solaris
>2.

Also use of commercial software that was available only in binary form.
Much of which you can make work with some tinkering under BSD but it's not
fun tinkering.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

In article <tt5nr2$5i$1@panix2.panix.com>,
Scott Dorsey <kludge@panix.com> wrote:
>Dan Cross <cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net> wrote:
>>In article <k5n2tcFtd0kU9@mid.individual.net>,
>>bill <bill.gunshannon@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>On 2/22/2023 10:08 AM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> While you're at it, feel free to call someone at Oracle and ask them to
>>>> open-source SunOS 4.1.4. If you can actually get someone to understand
>>>> that SunOS is different than Solaris you'll have got farther than anyone else
>>>> ever has.
>>>
>>>Why would anyone want SunOS 4.1.4 open sourced? There is nothing
>>>there that isn't in any of the BSD's that are already available
>>>and include versions that run on Sun hardware. I can see Oracle's
>>>reluctance to waste any time or money doing anything with any
>>>version of SunOS. Assuming they even still have copies of any of it!!
>>
>>I can think of two reasons:
>>
>>1. Nostalgia (and hobbyists)
>>2. The virtual memory subsystem
>>
>>The VM system in SunOS 4 was very clean. Fortunately, this is
>>one of the things that was carried over in large part to Solaris
>>2.
>
>Also use of commercial software that was available only in binary form.
>Much of which you can make work with some tinkering under BSD but it's not
>fun tinkering.

That you could probably do that with a binary distribution and
an emulator like simh or tme. For that matter, I seem to recall
a certain amount of backward compatibility for SunOS 4 binaries
under Solaris 2, but it's fuzzy now; I know you could run SunOS
binaries under 4.4BSD on SPARC, at anyrate.

- Dan C.

On 2/21/2023 10:06 PM, Arne Vajhøj wrote:
> On 2/21/2023 6:59 PM, David Goodwin wrote:
>> The only guarantee of a future is for the source to be made available under
>> a worthwhile license. Without the source there are no long-term guarantees.
>
> There is no guarantee with source either.
>
> The vast majority of VMS customers are not interested
> in maintaining an OS.
>
> Having the possibility to take the VMS source code,
> make fixes and do a build does not change anything,
> because they don't want to do that.
>
> Arne
>

Sources are only part of what's needed. Design is also important. Without an
idea of what's to happen, most would just screw up what already works. Like
Harry said, a man's got to know his limits.

--
David Froble Tel: 724-529-0450
Dave Froble Enterprises, Inc. E-Mail: davef@tsoft-inc.com
DFE Ultralights, Inc.
170 Grimplin Road
Vanderbilt, PA 15486