[TUHS] RFS (was Re: Re: forgotten versions)

[Larry McVoy]

On Sun, Jun 19, 2022 at 09:46:31PM +0100, Derek Fawcus wrote:
> On Fri, Jun 17, 2022 at 10:00:19PM -0700, Kevin Bowling wrote:
> > On Fri, Jun 17, 2022 at 5:35 PM Douglas McIlroy douglas.mcilroy at dartmouth.edu> wrote:
> > >
> > > V8 also had Peter Weinberger's Remote File System. Unlike NFS, RFS
> > > mapped UIDS, thus allowing files to be shared among computers in
> > > different jurisdictions with different UID lists. Unfortunately, RFS
> > > went the way of Reiser paging.
> > 
> > I believe RFS shipped in SVR3, at least as a package for the 3b2.
> 
> Apparently. I've a book (ISBN 0-672-48440-4) with a short chapter on it within, authored by Douglas Harris.
> 
> It happens to state:
> 
>   AT&T's approach towards UNIX System V, Release 3.0 and beyond is to provide a /Remote File System/ (RFS) that is an extension of the ordinary file system arrangement. [???]

SunOS 4.x shipped RFS, Howard Chartok (my office mate at the time) did
the port I believe.  Thankless work since Sun ran their entire campus
on NFS; RFS never got any attention.  It's too bad because it did solve
some problems that NFS just punted on.  NFS is Clem's law in action,
it was good enough, not great, but still won.