From db7b0a5d1b7cd5198203dfb49b2439c59f51890e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Nathaniel Beaver Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2017 09:57:46 -0500 Subject: [PATCH] Line wrapping and formatting. --- readme.rst | 435 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++------------------------ 1 file changed, 242 insertions(+), 193 deletions(-) diff --git a/readme.rst b/readme.rst index 7160e99..1dfccee 100644 --- a/readme.rst +++ b/readme.rst @@ -53,7 +53,8 @@ This document will not cover servers, phones, or embedded devices. This document will not cover closed vs. open source development, but will instead focus on functionality. -There is plenty of discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of open source elsewhere. +There is plenty of discussion +of the advantages and disadvantages of open source elsewhere. (Besides, what is there to discuss when we now know that `even Microsoft loves open source`_?) @@ -217,7 +218,8 @@ are lightweight enough that they default to `running from a RAM disk`_, and consequently have much faster disk I/O than an OS that must access a spinning hard drive. (This comes at the cost of disk space being limited by RAM. -There's no reason you can't mount an internal or external drive to store files, though.) +There's no reason you can't mount an internal or external drive +to store files, though.) .. _Puppy Linux: http://puppylinux.org/ .. _running from a RAM disk: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Linux_distributions_that_run_from_RAM @@ -309,7 +311,8 @@ Judging by the number of bug reports and complaints, the answer appears to be ye #. http://sumedha.blogspot.com/2011/01/svn-checkout-fails-windows-max-path.html #. http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=263489 -But the bigger issue is that many Windows developers are `so used to`_ `working around`_ the problem +But the bigger issue +is that many Windows developers are `so used to`_ `working around`_ the problem that it has become deeply entrenched and may `never be fixed`_. .. _so used to: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/tomholl/archive/2007/02/04/enterprise-library-and-the-curse-of-max-path.aspx @@ -332,18 +335,20 @@ when trying to resolve canonical file paths. .. _this limit is not enforced: http://insanecoding.blogspot.com/2007/11/pathmax-simply-isnt.html .. _susceptible to buffer overflow: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1171833/how-to-get-the-absolute-path-of-a-file-programmatically-with-out-realpath-unde -The 2008 POSIX revision has `addressed the issue`_, -but prior to this the Linux kernel had to make non-standard modifications to avoid overflow, -and `warned about the problem`_ -in the ``realpath (3)`` man page of the Linux Programmer's Manual. +The 2008 POSIX revision has `addressed the issue`_, but prior to this +the Linux kernel had to make non-standard modifications to avoid overflow, +and `warned about the problem`_ in the ``realpath (3)`` man page +of the Linux Programmer's Manual. .. _addressed the issue: https://www.securecoding.cert.org/confluence/display/seccode/FIO02-C.+Canonicalize+path+names+originating+from+tainted+sources .. _warned about the problem: http://linux.die.net/man/3/realpath -This illustrates that while the Linux kernel developers scrupulously avoid breaking external compatibility, +This illustrates that while the Linux kernel developers +scrupulously avoid breaking external compatibility, they also intentionally expose false assumptions, since false assumptions tend to cause hard-to-fix bugs. -This is why Linus Torvalds `chose an unusually high`_ timer interrupt frequency for Linux: +This is why Linus Torvalds +`chose an unusually high`_ timer interrupt frequency for Linux: I chose 1000 originally partly as a way to make sure that people that assumed HZ was 100 would get a swift kick in the pants. That meant making @@ -403,7 +408,8 @@ which could only fit a single alphabet. tant to be able to derive a 64-character, monocase alphabet, graphic subset from the code by simple, not complex, logic. - --- Charles E. Mackenzie, "Coded character sets: history and development" (1980), p.228 + --- Charles E. Mackenzie, "Coded character sets: history and development" + (1980), p.228 In fact, the some of the committee members wanted to reserve the remaining space for control characters. @@ -421,7 +427,8 @@ wanted to reserve the remaining space for control characters. --- Ibid, p.232 Though the comittee first formed in 1961, -it wasn't until late 1963 that they finally agreed to include a lowercase alphabet, +it wasn't until late 1963 +that they finally agreed to include a lowercase alphabet, largely because of the influence of the International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee (CCITT). @@ -469,13 +476,15 @@ that enforcing filename case-sensitivity -- and even case-sensitivity in general -- was a bad decision. [#against_case_sensitivity]_ -There are also passionate views to the opposite effect. [#against_case_insensitivity]_ +There are also passionate views +to the opposite effect. [#against_case_insensitivity]_ Laying aside that argument for the moment, why did Windows filenames end up case-insensitive? Strictly speaking, modern Windows filenames could be case-sensitive, -but they aren't because the `Windows API for opening files`_ `is not case-sensitive`_, +but they aren't +because the `Windows API for opening files`_ `is not case-sensitive`_, i.e. the `default call`_ to ``CreateFile`` does not enable the ``FILE_FLAG_POSIX_SEMANTICS`` option. @@ -535,7 +544,8 @@ was optimized for its architecture. https://lkml.org/lkml/2002/7/30/257 (CP/M was written for an eight-bit architecture, -which is presumably why it used an 8.3 filename instead of a 6.3 filename.) [#8.3_filename]_ +which is presumably why it used an 8.3 filename +instead of a 6.3 filename.) [#8.3_filename]_ Similarly, the RT-11 didn't use ASCII for filenames, but rather an encoding called RADIX-50, @@ -549,6 +559,7 @@ endures to this day. The lack of agreement on filename case-sensitivity may seem insignificant, but it has caused persistent difficulties in cross-platform development. [#tortoise_svn_case_sensitivity]_ [#openfoam_no_windows_port]_ [#common_lisp_filenames]_ + Developers of cross-platform software try to `avoid making assumptions about filename case-sensitivity`_, but problems of this ilk crop up when porting from Windows to Linux or vice-versa. [#valve_porting_source_to_linux]_ @@ -622,13 +633,14 @@ For example, the Linux port of the `Unity engine`_ has `issues with case-sensiti .. [#against_case_sensitivity] - Mac ＆ Windows users have to have filenames read to them over the phone by - support techs. They have to be able to write little sticky notes to their - mothers about how to open up the mail program, without worrying about how the - filenames are capitalized. Haven't you ever fumed over a URL with initial-caps - in the folder names in the path, having to fiddle with capitalization until you - get a response that's anything but a 404? Haven't you ever been secretly - pleased that e-mail addresses aren't case-sensitive? + Mac ＆ Windows users have to have filenames read to them over the phone + by support techs. They have to be able to write little sticky notes to + their mothers about how to open up the mail program, without worrying + about how the filenames are capitalized. Haven't you ever fumed over a + URL with initial-caps in the folder names in the path, having to fiddle + with capitalization until you get a response that's anything but a 404? + Haven't you ever been secretly pleased that e-mail addresses aren't + case-sensitive? --- Brian Tiemann, *On Unix File System's Case Sensitivity* (2001) @@ -643,38 +655,40 @@ For example, the Linux port of the `Unity engine`_ has `issues with case-sensiti https://www.ma.utexas.edu/pipermail/maxima/2003/004483.html - One of the most pernicious problems with C-based languages is that they're - case-sensitive. While this decision may have made sense in 1972 when the - language was created, one wonders why the sins of Kernighan and Ritchie have - been blindly perpetuated for the last thirty-three years. + One of the most pernicious problems with C-based languages is that + they're case-sensitive. While this decision may have made sense in 1972 + when the language was created, one wonders why the sins of Kernighan and + Ritchie have been blindly perpetuated for the last thirty-three years. [ . . . ] - Unless you have extremely compelling reasons to make something case-sensitive, - case insensitivity is a much more human being friendly design choice. Designing - software that's easier for machines is questionable at best. + Unless you have extremely compelling reasons to make something + case-sensitive, case insensitivity is a much more human being friendly + design choice. Designing software that's easier for machines is + questionable at best. --- Jeff Atwood, *The Case For Case Insensitivity* (2005) http://blog.codinghorror.com/the-case-for-case-insensitivity/ - There is no longer any excuse for making humans learn and handle the quirks of - the way computers store upper- and lower-case characters. Instead, software - should handle the quirks of human language. + There is no longer any excuse for making humans learn and handle the + quirks of the way computers store upper- and lower-case characters. + Instead, software should handle the quirks of human language. --- Brian Hauer, *Case-sensitivity is the past trolling us* (2014) http://tiamat.tsotech.com/case-sensitivity-sucks - Since it appears to have manifested out of opinion rather than necessity, it - could be said case-sensitivity is the worst way that modern technology sucks. + Since it appears to have manifested out of opinion rather than + necessity, it could be said case-sensitivity is the worst way that + modern technology sucks. --- Greg Raiz (2007) http://www.raizlabs.com/graiz/2007/02/11/linuxunix-case-sensitivity/ - This is really stupid, it causes a ton of problems and there is no longer - any good reason to have case sensitivity in an OS. + This is really stupid, it causes a ton of problems and there is no + longer any good reason to have case sensitivity in an OS. --- Julian, OddThinking (2005) @@ -701,18 +715,19 @@ For example, the Linux port of the `Unity engine`_ has `issues with case-sensiti https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/2w6c8g/case_insensitive_windows_rant/ - Why are computer file names and conventions and protocols so messed up? It's - bizarre -- and Microsoft has been one of the worst offenders with one of the - most powerful positions and opportunities to make it a better filename-naming - world. + Why are computer file names and conventions and protocols so messed up? + It's bizarre -- and Microsoft has been one of the worst offenders with + one of the most powerful positions and opportunities to make it a better + filename-naming world. [ . . . ] - And, Microsoft dares to allow mixed case naming, but does case insensitive - handling of file names... don't even get me started about some of the bizarre - results and buggy behavior I've traced to that. I only wish I'd had a - chargeback code for all of the time I've spent fixing and debugging systems - that all come back to the file naming. Sigh, again. + And, Microsoft dares to allow mixed case naming, but does case + insensitive handling of file names... don't even get me started about + some of the bizarre results and buggy behavior I've traced to that. I + only wish I'd had a chargeback code for all of the time I've spent + fixing and debugging systems that all come back to the file naming. + Sigh, again. --- yagu (2006) @@ -743,8 +758,9 @@ For example, the Linux port of the `Unity engine`_ has `issues with case-sensiti http://dosmandrivel.blogspot.com/2007/08/is-dos-rip-off-of-cpm.html - As I noted when I discussed the old MS-DOS wildcard matching rules, MS-DOS - worked hard at being compatible with CP/M. And CP/M used 8.3 filenames. + As I noted when I discussed the old MS-DOS wildcard matching rules, + MS-DOS worked hard at being compatible with CP/M. And CP/M used 8.3 + filenames. --- Raymond Chen (2009) @@ -808,18 +824,18 @@ For example, the Linux port of the `Unity engine`_ has `issues with case-sensiti From a post on the comp.sys.tandy Usenet group: - Of course, CP/M itself is an - almost exact knock off of DECs PDP-11 OS, RT-11, an operating system that - dates back to the early seventies, and RT-11 shows its roots in TOPS-10, - which goes back another year or two. For some reason, all the historians - tracing the source of MS-DOS mysteriously stop at CP/M, even when command sets - and utility syntaxes are compared side-by-side. Who had a PIP utility first? - Why, DEC, not Digital Research. + Of course, CP/M itself is an almost exact knock off of DECs PDP-11 OS, + RT-11, an operating system that dates back to the early seventies, and + RT-11 shows its roots in TOPS-10, which goes back another year or two. + For some reason, all the historians tracing the source of MS-DOS + mysteriously stop at CP/M, even when command sets and utility syntaxes + are compared side-by-side. Who had a PIP utility first? Why, DEC, not + Digital Research. - The joke in the seventies that "Digital Research" was a typographical error - and the companies real name was "Digital [Equipment Corporation] Rehashed", - for RT-11, TOPS-10 and RSTS/E all predated CP/M by a lot and yet have the same - command syntax. + The joke in the seventies that "Digital Research" was a typographical + error and the companies real name was "Digital [Equipment Corporation] + Rehashed", for RT-11, TOPS-10 and RSTS/E all predated CP/M by a lot and + yet have the same command syntax. https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/comp.sys.tandy/EcfhcRv9gEU/fNu_h9fCe3AJ @@ -844,14 +860,14 @@ For example, the Linux port of the `Unity engine`_ has `issues with case-sensiti .. [#CPM_case_insensitive] CP/M did this conversion internally. It should also be noted that all alphabetic lower case letters in file - and drive names are always translated to upper case when they are processed by - the CCP [Console Command Processor]. + and drive names are always translated to upper case when they are + processed by the CCP [Console Command Processor]. [ . . . ] - Further, recall that the CCP always translates lower case characters to upper - case characters internally. Thus, lower case alphabetics are treated as if - they are upper case in command names and file references + Further, recall that the CCP always translates lower case characters to + upper case characters internally. Thus, lower case alphabetics are + treated as if they are upper case in command names and file references https://archive.org/stream/Intro_to_CPM_Feat_and_Facilities/Intro_to_CPM_Feat_and_Facilities_djvu.txt @@ -867,22 +883,22 @@ For example, the Linux port of the `Unity engine`_ has `issues with case-sensiti .. [#RADIX50] ... files were located via the directory, which resided in a fixed - location at the beginning of the hard drive. The directory consisted of a - single array of entries, each with a 6.3 character file name formatted in DEC’s - Radix-50 format. A file’s directory entry indicated the address of the first - block of the file. + location at the beginning of the hard drive. The directory consisted of + a single array of entries, each with a 6.3 character file name formatted + in DEC’s Radix-50 format. A file’s directory entry indicated the address + of the first block of the file. http://cryptosmith.com/2013/10/19/digitals-rt-11-file-system/ RADIX50 is a character coding system used in earlier Digital Equipment - Corporation computers, such as the PDP-10, DECsystem-10 and DECsystem-20. - It was implemented as a way to pack as many characters into as few bits as - possible. + Corporation computers, such as the PDP-10, DECsystem-10 and + DECsystem-20. It was implemented as a way to pack as many characters + into as few bits as possible. - RADIX50 actually contains 40 codes, or 50 in octal. Because this is not a - power of two, the PDP-10 processor had instructions to pack several - RADIX-50 words into a single 36-bit word or extract RADIX-50 words from a - 36-bit word. + RADIX50 actually contains 40 codes, or 50 in octal. Because this is not + a power of two, the PDP-10 processor had instructions to pack several + RADIX-50 words into a single 36-bit word or extract RADIX-50 words from + a 36-bit word. http://nemesis.lonestar.org/reference/telecom/codes/radix50.html @@ -915,10 +931,17 @@ For example, the Linux port of the `Unity engine`_ has `issues with case-sensiti .. [#valve_porting_source_to_linux] http://adrienb.fr/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/PortingSourceToLinux.pdf - Linux filesystems are case-sensitive + - Windows is not - - Not a big issue for deployment (because everyone ships packs of some sort) + + - Not a big issue for deployment (because everyone ships packs of some + sort) + - But an issue during development, with loose files - - Solution 1: Slam all assets to lower case, including directories, then tolower all file lookups (only adjust below root) + + - Solution 1: Slam all assets to lower case, including directories, then + tolower all file lookups (only adjust below root) + - Solution 2: Build file cache, look for similarly named files @@ -955,10 +978,10 @@ due to their use in delimiting drive names like ``C:\``. This causes issues in sharing files across platforms. For example, a UNIX file name can use a colon (:), but a Windows file name - cannot use a colon (:). If a UNIX user attempts to create a file with a Windows - illegal character on a Windows Services for UNIX network file system (NFS) - share, the attempt is unsuccessful and the UNIX client computer receives an - input or output error. + cannot use a colon (:). If a UNIX user attempts to create a file with a + Windows illegal character on a Windows Services for UNIX network file + system (NFS) share, the attempt is unsuccessful and the UNIX client + computer receives an input or output error. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/289627 @@ -991,15 +1014,17 @@ but such restrictions do not apply to filenames.) https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1976007/what-characters-are-forbidden-in-windows-and-linux-directory-names - When Steve Bourne was writing his Unix shell (which came to be known as the - Bourne shell), he made a directory of 254 files with one-character names, one for each - byte value except ``'\0'`` and slash, the two characters that cannot appear in Unix file - names. He used that directory for all manner of tests of pattern-matching and tok- - enization. (The test directory was of course created by a program.) For years after- - wards, that directory was the bane of file-tree-walking programs; it tested them to - destruction. + When Steve Bourne was writing his Unix shell (which came to be known as + the Bourne shell), he made a directory of 254 files with one-character + names, one for each byte value except ``'\0'`` and slash, the two + characters that cannot appear in Unix file names. He used that directory + for all manner of tests of pattern-matching and tok- enization. (The + test directory was of course created by a program.) For years after- + wards, that directory was the bane of file-tree-walking programs; it + tested them to destruction. - --- Brian W. Kernighan and Rob Pike, "The Practice of Programming", Chapter 6: Testing, p. 158 + --- Brian W. Kernighan and Rob Pike, "The Practice of Programming", + Chapter 6: Testing, p. 158 https://books.google.com/books?id=j9T6AgAAQBAJ&lpg=PP1&dq=the%20practice%20of%20programming&pg=PA158#v=onepage&q=When%20Steve%20Bourne @@ -1019,12 +1044,12 @@ but such restrictions do not apply to filenames.) Dennis Ritchie has explained the `rationale for using a null-terminator`_: - In BCPL, the first packed byte contains the number of characters in the string; - in B, there is no count and strings are terminated by a special character, - which B spelled ```*e'``. This change was made partially to avoid the limitation on - the length of a string caused by holding the count in an 8- or 9-bit slot, and - partly because maintaining the count seemed, in our experience, less convenient - than using a terminator. + In BCPL, the first packed byte contains the number of characters in the + string; in B, there is no count and strings are terminated by a special + character, which B spelled ```*e'``. This change was made partially to + avoid the limitation on the length of a string caused by holding the + count in an 8- or 9-bit slot, and partly because maintaining the count + seemed, in our experience, less convenient than using a terminator. `Null-terminated strings do have some drawbacks`_, such as making certain optimizations more difficult, @@ -1057,11 +1082,13 @@ UDF (used for some CDs and DVDs), and the legacy FAT16/FAT32/exFAT family. All other filesystems require installation of `third-party software`_. -Linux has drivers for `almost all file systems`_ that can be legally mounted without paying royalties, +Linux has drivers for `almost all file systems`_ +that can be legally mounted without paying royalties, including ones that don't see much use nowadays, like `Amiga file systems`_. It can also mount FAT and NTFS filesystems, -despite Microsoft's lucrative patent licensing deals and `ongoing`_ `litigation`_ -against Android manufacturers and `other companies`_ that use the Linux kernel's FAT drivers. +despite Microsoft's lucrative patent licensing deals +and `ongoing`_ `litigation`_ against Android manufacturers +and `other companies`_ that use the Linux kernel's FAT drivers. .. _third-party software: http://www.ext2fsd.com/ .. _almost all file systems: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/file_systems @@ -1072,19 +1099,19 @@ against Android manufacturers and `other companies`_ that use the Linux kernel's For the system partition, Linux users can choose among the usual ext3 journaling filesystem -or -up-and-coming filesystems like `Btrfs`_. +or up-and-coming filesystems like `Btrfs`_. Unlike FAT and NTFS filesystems, -ext3 and Btrfs `do not require defragmentation`_ -to maintain good performance. -(Realistically, though, `defragmentation isn't that important for NTFS`_, either.) +ext3 and Btrfs `do not require defragmentation`_ to maintain good performance. +(Realistically, though, +`defragmentation isn't that important for NTFS`_, either.) .. _Btrfs: https://btrfs.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Main_Page .. _NTFS and FAT: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/2007.11.desktopfiles.aspx .. _do not require defragmentation: http://www.tldp.org/LDP/sag/html/filesystems.html#FRAGMENTATION .. _defragmentation isn't that important for NTFS: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/e7/archive/2009/01/25/disk-defragmentation-background-and-engineering-the-windows-7-improvements.aspx -Finally, Linux permits unprivileged users to run their own filesystems via FUSE. +Finally, Linux permits unprivileged users +to run their own filesystems via FUSE. This has many practical benefits, such as accessing cloud storage as if it were an ordinary directory. @@ -1205,7 +1232,8 @@ because the `folder it is in cannot have a read-only status`_. In Linux, by contrast, a read-only directory cannot have files added to it, and files in such a directory cannot be moved, renamed, or deleted without first removing the read-only status from the directory they are in. -Modifications of the contents of the files depend on the individual file permissions. +Modifications of the contents of the files +depend on the individual file permissions. .. [#unix_groups] Unix permissions, for example, are not a panacea: https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/164303/single-user-for-sharing-vs-multiple-users .. [#ntfs_permissions_flaw] NTFS permissions have their own issues, e.g. https://serverfault.com/questions/31709/how-to-workaround-the-ntfs-move-copy-design-flaw @@ -1255,8 +1283,8 @@ http://new.office-watch.com/2008/make-a-consistent-drive-letter-or-path-to-a-rem Fortunately, there is a solution: NTFS mount points. - Volume mount points are robust against system changes that occur when devices - are added or removed from a computer. + Volume mount points are robust against system changes that occur when + devices are added or removed from a computer. https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/Cc938934.aspx @@ -1281,15 +1309,15 @@ Unfortunately, Windows doesn't use mount points by default for external hard drives or flash drives, possibly because mount points behave slightly differently than drive letters. - The problem is the recycle bin. This "undo" option is maintained with a hidden - system file that is on the partition that holds the files being deleted. - Unfortuantely, when the command to delete a folder is given, the system - attempts to delete the folder using the mount point folder's Master File Table, - and not the subfolder's Master File Table. The mount point folder's MFT - doesn't host the record, and an access denied message is kicked back to you for - having the temerity to try and recycle a directory which apparently doesn't - even exist! The only solution for this is to not recycle subfolders and - directories, but to outright delete them. + The problem is the recycle bin. This "undo" option is maintained with a + hidden system file that is on the partition that holds the files being + deleted. Unfortuantely, when the command to delete a folder is given, the + system attempts to delete the folder using the mount point folder's Master + File Table, and not the subfolder's Master File Table. The mount point + folder's MFT doesn't host the record, and an access denied message is + kicked back to you for having the temerity to try and recycle a directory + which apparently doesn't even exist! The only solution for this is to not + recycle subfolders and directories, but to outright delete them. http://getyouriton.blogspot.com/2009/08/serious-gotchas-with-mounted-drives-or.html @@ -1360,7 +1388,8 @@ not the trash in the user's home directory. However, the motivations for such a scheme go back further. One of the most influential time-sharing systems, - CTSS, recognized the need for accessing files independently of their disk location. + CTSS, recognized the need for accessing files + independently of their disk location. All files kept on the disk (and drum) are known to the user only by name: the supervisor disk control module keeps @@ -1380,18 +1409,19 @@ not the trash in the user's home directory. Unix was developed on relatively small disk drives, so it was useful to be able mount drives anywhere on the filesystem. - You know how Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie created Unix on a PDP-7 in 1969? - Well around 1971 they upgraded to a PDP-11 with a pair of RK05 disk packs (1.5 - megabytes each) for storage. + You know how Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie created Unix on a PDP-7 in + 1969? Well around 1971 they upgraded to a PDP-11 with a pair of RK05 + disk packs (1.5 megabytes each) for storage. - When the operating system grew too big to fit on the first RK05 disk pack (their - root filesystem) they let it leak into the second one, which is where all the - user home directories lived (which is why the mount was called /usr). They - replicated all the OS directories under there (/bin, /sbin, /lib, /tmp...) and - wrote files to those new directories because their original disk was out of - space. When they got a third disk, they mounted it on /home and relocated all - the user directories to there so the OS could consume all the space on both - disks and grow to THREE WHOLE MEGABYTES (ooooh!). + When the operating system grew too big to fit on the first RK05 disk + pack (their root filesystem) they let it leak into the second one, which + is where all the user home directories lived (which is why the mount was + called /usr). They replicated all the OS directories under there (/bin, + /sbin, /lib, /tmp...) and wrote files to those new directories because + their original disk was out of space. When they got a third disk, they + mounted it on /home and relocated all the user directories to there so + the OS could consume all the space on both disks and grow to THREE WHOLE + MEGABYTES (ooooh!). http://lists.busybox.net/pipermail/busybox/2010-December/074114.html @@ -1454,7 +1484,8 @@ and observe how it responds to various kill signals. There are plenty of Windows programs similar to ``gdb`` and ``strace``, [#gdb_for_Windows]_ [#strace_for_Windows]_ but they don't come installed by default, whereas both ``strace`` and ``gdb`` come with almost all Linux distributions, -so system administrators can rely on being able to use them on nearly any Linux box. +so system administrators can rely on being able to use them +with nearly any Linux box. .. [#gdb_for_Windows] https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/ff551063 @@ -1546,11 +1577,11 @@ https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3848558/what-is-the-api-to-create-applicatio Sometimes it isn't the API, either; on Windows 8 it is impossible to disable the dwm window compositor. - In Windows Vista and Windows 7, desktop composition is disabled in a number of - scenarios. In Windows 8, DWM desktop composition is a core operating system - component and cannot be disabled. With a few exceptions, desktop composition is - always on; it’s started before the user logon and remains active for the - duration of a session. + In Windows Vista and Windows 7, desktop composition is disabled in a number + of scenarios. In Windows 8, DWM desktop composition is a core operating + system component and cannot be disabled. With a few exceptions, desktop + composition is always on; it’s started before the user logon and remains + active for the duration of a session. --- Windows Dev Center documentation @@ -1583,27 +1614,30 @@ in the same way that the Windows API is. since KDE uses the cross-platform Qt framework. The KDE on Windows Initiative is an ongoing project to port the KDE - applications to MS Windows. Currently supported versions of Windows are XP, - Vista and 7. + applications to MS Windows. Currently supported versions of Windows are + XP, Vista and 7. https://windows.kde.org/ This is not without difficulties, however. - The current implementation of KDE is designed in a unix specific way, which is - partially different from the Windows way. Examples for this are: + The current implementation of KDE is designed in a unix specific way, + which is partially different from the Windows way. Examples for this + are: * Process creating - Using the Unix way of fork and exec. - * It isn't available on Windows, this difference requires a redesign of the related parts. + * It isn't available on Windows, this difference requires a redesign of + the related parts. * Its missing Windows api counterparts. - * KDE uses Unix domain socket for high speed data transfer betwen kioslave - slaves and its parent process and for the communication to/from the dbus - deamon. On Windows there are no Unix domain sockets. They could be emulated - by tcp sockets with the costs of slower bandwidth and additional patches to - deal with Unix domain socket files exchanged between processes. + * KDE uses Unix domain socket for high speed data transfer betwen + kioslave slaves and its parent process and for the communication + to/from the dbus deamon. On Windows there are no Unix domain sockets. + They could be emulated by tcp sockets with the costs of slower + bandwidth and additional patches to deal with Unix domain socket files + exchanged between processes. --- Ralf Habacker, KDE developer @@ -1635,10 +1669,11 @@ i.e. ``WS_THICKFRAME`` is not enabled by default. .. TOOD: source .. TODO: is it even possible to prevent resizing? - In some cases, you want to display something in a response window but you also - want this window to be resizable in order to let the user resize this window to - display the info the way he or she wants. Normally, response windows are not - resizable and this is also the Microsoft standard behaviour. + In some cases, you want to display something in a response window but you + also want this window to be resizable in order to let the user resize this + window to display the info the way he or she wants. Normally, response + windows are not resizable and this is also the Microsoft standard + behaviour. --- Eric Aling, April 13, 2000 @@ -1669,64 +1704,78 @@ that watches for window creation and mouse click events. [#ResizeEnable]_ The README is not directly linkable via URL, -so here are some of the salient parts:: +so here are some of the salient parts: - ============================================================================================= - What is ResizeEnable - ============================================================================================= - It's a very ugly system hack that sits in your system tray and attempts to make windows - that can't usually be resized, resizeable. + ===================== + What is ResizeEnable? + ===================== + It's a very ugly system hack that sits in your system tray and attempts to + make windows that can't usually be resized, resizeable. - ============================================================================================= + =================== Why was it written? - ============================================================================================= - It was written following a request from a friend. He runs his PC at a screen resolution above - 1280x1024, and was fed up with having to pick items from a list that could only display three - items because the window didn't take into account the screen resolution, hence only occupying - about 20% of the desktop 'real-estate'. + =================== + + It was written following a request from a friend. He runs his PC at a + screen resolution above 1280x1024, and was fed up with having to pick items + from a list that could only display three items because the window didn't + take into account the screen resolution, hence only occupying about 20% of + the desktop 'real-estate'. - ============================================================================================= + ================= How does it work? - ============================================================================================= - ResizeEnable sits in the background and attaches itself into Windows via three 'Hooks'. - The first hook is so that it can see which windows are created/destroyed, in which it attempts - to alter the window's style so that it can be resized. - The second hook intercepts all messages for every single window to see if it is a message - associated with resizing a window that it has previously altered the style of. If the message - is associated with sizing, it then resizes all the child windows (Buttons, Edit boxes and so on) - simply by scaling them to fit the new windows size. Its ugly, but most of the time it works ok. - The third hook spots whether the mouse has been pressed in the 'sizing area' of a window and - takes care of doing all the work of resizing the window. This hook didn't exist in v1.0 but - has been added to make even more windows resize properly. + ================= -There are some drawbacks to this approach:: + ResizeEnable sits in the background and attaches itself into Windows via + three 'Hooks'. The first hook is so that it can see which windows are + created/destroyed, in which it attempts to alter the window's style so that + it can be resized. The second hook intercepts all messages for every + single window to see if it is a message associated with resizing a window + that it has previously altered the style of. If the message is associated + with sizing, it then resizes all the child windows (Buttons, Edit boxes and + so on) simply by scaling them to fit the new windows size. Its ugly, but + most of the time it works ok. The third hook spots whether the mouse has + been pressed in the 'sizing area' of a window and takes care of doing all + the work of resizing the window. This hook didn't exist in v1.0 but has + been added to make even more windows resize properly. - ============================================================================================= +There are some drawbacks to this approach: + + ============== Known problems - ============================================================================================= - 1) Most applications will respond to having their windows resized ok. Well, applications that - have followed the guidelines will. - 2) Some applications have, shall we say, problems, when their window has been resized and all - sort of visual chaos will be revealed. + ============== + + 1) Most applications will respond to having their windows resized ok. Well, + applications that have followed the guidelines will. + + 2) Some applications have, shall we say, problems, when their window has + been resized and all sort of visual chaos will be revealed. + 3) Some applications won't respond at all, which is rather strange! - 4) Certain windows will 'jiggle' as you attempt to resize them, seemingly resizing and then - snapping back to their original size. This is annoying, but we're not sure what is - causing it. - 5) Some versions of Internet Explorer, coupled with certain version of Windows98/NT seemed to - crash with v1.0 of ResizeEnable. We don't have that setup on any of our test machines - so we can't test it. But, we have done a little bit more work so ResizeEnable is a - bit more choosy as to which windows it can work with. So it -might- not crash anymore. - If it still crashes, then all we can suggest at the moment is that you upgrade to - Internet Explorer 6. We're not Microsoft pushers, but Internet Explorer 6 has better - error reporting and shouldn't just explode without warning. - 6) Some Microsoft applications have dialogs that can be resized, but none of their contents - move. This is down to the fact that the contents of the dialog ARE NOT STANDARD - MICROSOFT CONTROLS! They are some bastardisation written specially for the application. - They may look like normal buttons/drop downs, but they sure as heck aren't! Hence, - ResizeEnable can't tell them to move or resize. Yet again, Microsoft ignore their own - codebase and reinvent the wheel. And people wonder why their applications are so big.. + + 4) Certain windows will 'jiggle' as you attempt to resize them, seemingly + resizing and then snapping back to their original size. This is annoying, + but we're not sure what is causing it. + + 5) Some versions of Internet Explorer, coupled with certain version of + Windows98/NT seemed to crash with v1.0 of ResizeEnable. We don't have that + setup on any of our test machines so we can't test it. But, we have done a + little bit more work so ResizeEnable is a bit more choosy as to which + windows it can work with. So it -might- not crash anymore. If it still + crashes, then all we can suggest at the moment is that you upgrade to + Internet Explorer 6. We're not Microsoft pushers, but Internet Explorer 6 + has better error reporting and shouldn't just explode without warning. + + 6) Some Microsoft applications have dialogs that can be resized, but none + of their contents move. This is down to the fact that the contents of the + dialog ARE NOT STANDARD MICROSOFT CONTROLS! They are some bastardisation + written specially for the application. They may look like normal + buttons/drop downs, but they sure as heck aren't! Hence, ResizeEnable can't + tell them to move or resize. Yet again, Microsoft ignore their own codebase + and reinvent the wheel. And people wonder why their applications are so + big.. .. [#resize_non_resizable_windows] http://www.thewindowsclub.com/resize-non-resizable-windows .. [#turn_non_resizable_windows] http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/11799/turn-non-resizeable-windows-into-rezieable-windows/