[9fans] socket

[Nigel Roles ngr@symbionics.com]

The socket support in APE is on a sensible scale, but this is
never enough for *X programs!

I had a crack at Samba back a bit
and decided that I didn't have the strength of character. My
instinct was to throw the socket stuff away. This always makes
you feel better anyway [see forsyth passim]. However, the big
issue here is that unless you can support the very latest Microsoft
variant of SMB and all its features, half the applications you
thought it might be great to have access Plan 9 will sulk. In
particular the locking schemes (yes plural) are baroque in the
extreme, and would need to be aped (ho ho) in some way. This includes
optimistic locking, where you get to lock whole files, but only
until someone else locks a record, whereupon you get a message
telling you the lock has been broken [race condition there shurley?
ed].

Even the *X version struggles with all this despite a very brave attempt,
making a Win95 a very effective weapon in forcing us and many other
companies to switch to NT servers.

Thus while it might be possible to get simple file access up, much
more might end in disappointment. On this basis junking the socket stuff
isn't as bad as it sounds.

If the aim is to share files between Plan 9 and Microsoft worlds,
then perhaps running Samba and u9fs on a *X box might be easier.

-----Original Message-----
From: arisawa@ar.aichi-u.ac.jp [mailto:arisawa@ar.aichi-u.ac.jp]
Sent: Thursday, March 18, 1999 3:40 AM
To: 9fans@cse.psu.edu
Subject: [9fans] socket


Hello 9fans,

I am now trying to import samba to Plan9.
However I am in some troubles about socket support of APE.
APE does not support 'setsockopt' and 'getsockopt' .
Socket options that apears in samba's source files are, for example:
	SO_BROADCAST
	SO_KEEPALIVE

Any advices are welcome.


Kenji Arisawa
E-mail: arisawa@aichi-u.ac.jp