Re: DJGPP ( Was: In need of an NT version of 'ab' )

[TO...@aol.com]

Hi Brian...
Kevin Kiley here.

Comments regarding your re-post on DJGPP are inline below.

In a message dated 99-06-24 03:18:23 EDT, 
Brian Behlendorf writes...

> Subj:	 Re: In need of an NT version of 'ab'
>  Date:	99-06-24 03:18:23 EDT
>  From:	brian@hyperreal.org (Brian Behlendorf)
>  Sender:	new-httpd-owner@apache.org
>  Reply-to:	new-httpd@apache.org
>  To:	new-httpd@apache.org
>  
>  On Wed, 23 Jun 1999 TOKILEY@aol.com wrote:
>  > ( Note: 'Official' Apache for Win32 is NOT compiled
>  > using DJGPP. They use MSVC for the Win32 version ).
>  
>  Can you give any info as to whether this DJGPP-compiled version actually
>  works?

Yes, it does... but don't go looking for any performance increases.

The DJGPP guys have done some GREAT work here but the port of
'gcc' ( which is the whole key, of course ) is pretty much one of those
'do whatever it takes to get the job done' deals and the Intel assembler
output is certainly not as efficient as MSVC or Borland.
  
>  At USENIX I heard a presentation from the guy who did the Win32 port of
>  the CODA filesystem driver.  Well, actually, he decided that due to
>  Win32's design, that would be impossible to do (he has a userland cache
>  manager, and something about the way win32 calls were single-threaded and
>  couldn't call back up from the kernel without causing deadlock) he instead
>  used DJGPP and built it as essentially a 32-bit DOS app.  (!!!)  He said
>  his team needed to write a socket and memory management library for DJGPP,
>  but that otherwise, there was very little change from the standard UNIX
>  code, and it ran like a champ.

Obviously the design considerations are the key. ( setpgrp??? ).
You will usually have to 'hack around' some things but it's amazing
how much you DON'T have to do.

I have had similar success stories using DJGPP.

I wish the WINE folks were as far along with their 'mirror universe'
as DJGPP is on the other side of the fence.

LIBSOCKA is the BSD to WINSOCK translation and still needs
some work... but it has also come a long way. 6 months ago
it couldn't even do 'select'.

LIBSOCKA comes from anther group but it's all in the same download.

>  The URL for it is at http://www.usenix.org/events/usenix99/braam.html, but
>  unfortunately you need a USENIX member password to view it.

Try this one... latest and greatest always available and you
can download all the ported GNU utilities straight away
( gcc, make, libs, all source, examples, etc... ) no questions asked. 

It even has a 'Powered by Apache' logo on the bottom of the page...

http://www.delorie.com/djgpp/

I think this is the 'official' home page for DJGPP. Not sure.
It's DJ Delorie's home page. That's where 'DJ' in 'DJGPP' comes from.

Don't get me wrong here...

You would have to be foolish to write in UNIX and want to 
compile and run on Win32... but for development purposes
in limited environments it's fantastic... and I think for simple
TEST programs that people want to see running on NT
( Like the original poster requested )... it's a solution.

Example: I have re-written httpd, Harvest Cache, Squid, Apache,
thttpd, mathopd, GLOMOP Pythia Proxy Server, GLOMOP
TransSend Server, Zeus, Boa, etc, etc... and I can
mostly take all of these all the way to final custom revisions
without ever getting NEAR a UNIX machine. 

Yes... I have had to perform some 'magic'... but it's not hard
especially since they are all console apps. I haven't gotten
NEAR the 'GUI' issues and would not want to. Gates can
have that one for all of me.

All in all... DJGPP is not bad pickins when your Sun 
SparcStation is up on blocks in the front yard!

Yours...
Kevin Kiley
CTO, Remote Communications, Inc.
http://www.RemoteCommunciations.com
The HOME of HyperSpace(r) data compression,
EMAS(tm), CHTML(tm) and RCTP(tm).