Binary Compatibility 80286

[Henry Spencer]

> Now about this Unix source compatibility issue.  Which Unix version, which
> hardware, and which code are you talking about?
> 
> I have not seen anything that demonstrates any form of compatibility between
> any of the Unix' available. You have so many various forms and versions of
> the ne'rdowell 'operating system' (I use the term loosely) that source written
> for one can not be expected to run on any other system.
> 
> A major cause problem of this phenomenon is to make useful software you must
> take advantage of certain hardware particulars. Or you use a certain program
> compiler, again making use of machine specific (or worse yet, os version
> specific) routines, which again limits portability.

How strange.  We routinely move substantial chunks of software between
PDP11s, VAXen, 370s, Suns, various 68000 and 32000 boxes, etc.  Running
quite different variants of Unix, too.  How curious that we never realized
we were doing the impossible.
-- 
				Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
				{allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!henry