Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site mulga.SUN Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!floyd!harpo!decvax!mulga!kre From: kre@mulga.SUN (Robert Elz) Newsgroups: net.unix-wizards Subject: Re: alleged Disgusting kernel hack (contains free kernel paginator) Message-ID: <190@mulga.SUN> Date: Tue, 17-Jan-84 23:08:29 EST Article-I.D.: mulga.190 Posted: Tue Jan 17 23:08:29 1984 Date-Received: Wed, 8-Feb-84 07:17:26 EST References: <18@isrnix.UUCP>, <1668@utcsstat.UUCP> Organization: Comp Sci, Melbourne Uni, Australia Lines: 42 I don't believe it! I had considered the original article to be a joke, & had considered mailing a complaint at those who took it seriously & sent articles ridiculing the idea. Now we have code ???? The kernel simply does not have enough information to get pagination right (apart from problems of terminal that do, or do not wrap long lines). What you want paginated is the output from some program, and then only really when its coming quickly (when I do "cc *.c" I don't want, or expect, it to stop after 24 files, cause it thinks that I want to look at the names of the files its compiling - but I do want the output, cause I like the security of knowing that its still happening out there). Similarly, if someone else writes at me, while I'm taking a half hour or so to gaze at some particularly interesting piece of news (or perhaps if one of the less interesting has sent me to sleep), I don't think they will take it too kindly if their message request gets held up until I decide to scroll the screen. Way back in v6 days, we had a terminal driver at Melbourne that did all that (it did *everything*). Its one unused, & very soon discarded "feature" was pagination. To all sites out there who have managed to resist this bug in their tty drivers: Don't be misled by "free" code, it isn't often that you get something for free that's worth having, & this isn't one of those rare occasions. Finally, to those who criticize "more" as being a slow & bulky paginator: It isn't a paginator. Its a program to display data on a terminal, which includes pagination, re-display, pattern searches, ... Maybe that shouldn't all be in one program, but then again, maybe it should. It has a well defined job to do, & does just that. However, please don't assume that I'm defending its bugs, it has had, & continues to have rather a lot of them, perhaps it is a good target for re-implementation, maybe someone can get the code right. If all you want is a paginator, about 15 minutes & less than a page of code will give you one. Robert Elz, decvax!mulga!kre