Services for UNIX 3.0, Part 4: Technology Roundup

In this series, I have attempted to avoid taking a hard and fast
position with regard to product endorsements. However, I must conclude
this series with the same message as I begun. Stated simply, for
administrators of mixed UNIX and Windows environments, the tool suites
offered by MKS and Microsoft are must buys.

I see the suites as complimentary rather than strictly competitive. If
you are looking to emulate UNIX commands and port applications using the
Win32 subsystem, then MKS may be your best bet. However, if you want a
complete POSIX environment running within Windows then Microsoft's
Services for UNIX 3.0 (SFU3) should be used. Frankly, I use both tool
sets for different objectives.

A reader dropped me an email message about the SFU3 architecture so let
me try to explain how it relates to the operating system. In Windows NT
and Windows 2000, Microsoft shipped a restricted POSIX subsystem that
provided little more than C language APIs. (The forthcoming Windows .NET
Server will have this subsystem completely removed along with the
much-outdated OS/2 subsystem.) The POSIX and Win32 subsystem operate
side-by-side and reside on top of the operating system kernel.

When SFU3 is installed the original POSIX subsystem is stripped away and
replaced with the Interix POSIX compliant subsystem. The new POSIX
subsystem directly supports over 1900 UNIX APIs, which permits the
porting of POSIX applications and scripts directly to this new
environment.

As noted last week, you will still need to address inherent system
differences such as specific device calls; however, that is generally
also a problem when moving between UNIX variants anyway. SFU3 ships with
over 350 UNIX utilities and commands, C and Korn shells, ActivePERL, and
many other standard UNIX foundation technologies.

In essence, with SFU3, you are running a true hybrid...UNIX under
Windows...what could be better?

Happy geeking until next time...