Re: [Q]: compatibility with SunOS versions

>From: charles.herrick@amd.com >Subject: [Q]: compatibility with SunOS versions >Date: Wed, 7 Sep 1994 20:11:45 GMT >X-Informix-List-Id: <news.8535> > >Here's a repost. Still hoping to get a response. Can anyone tell me >which versions of Informix are compatible with which versions of SunOS? >Can anyone elaborate on which future versions of Informix will be >compatible with which versions of SunOS? I'm trying to plan for future >upgrades. This question is too vague to receive a succinct answer. * It depends on what you mean by SunOS. * It depends how far back in time you want to go. * It depends on what you mean by compatible. There is some hand-waving in the answer below -- one or two parts of the answer are over-simplified, but it makes the explanation much easier. Traditionally, SunOS has been the first platform on which Informix products are released (along with HP). For a while now, SunOS 4.1.3 has been the primary version. SunOS 4.1.3 has also been the primary development platform. We are just switching allegiances so that Solaris 2.3 (at the moment) is the primary development platform. Previously, Solaris was a port; it will become one of the first release platforms. That means, for example, the I4GL 4.12.UE1 is available on SunOS 4.1.3. Likewise for practically every other Unix product (tool or engine) released in the last year or so (4.12 Engines, 5.03 Engines, 6.00 Tools, 6.00 Engines, ...). Most of these are also available on a Solaris platform, and typically on 2.3. If you want to delve further back in time, you find some Solaris 2.1 and 2.2 ports, and you find earlier versions of SunOS than 4.1.3. If you are asking whether software compiled for SunOS version 4.a.b also works on a newer version SunOS 4.d.e, the answer depends on how the o/s changed. Typically, the o/s will be upwards compatible and you'll be able to run older software on the newer o/s. This is not guaranteed. Typically, you can't safely run code for 4.d.e on an older version such as 4.a.b, but again, you can sometimes get away with it. Running SunOS software on Solaris is more problematic. I wouldn't tend to try running OnLine on any version of the o/s other than the specified one as it tends to have a lot of intimate knowledge about the o/s which may not hold good. On the other hand, the tools tend to make very limited use of special o/s features and therefore are largely immune from minor changes in specialized parts of the I/O system. It will be much easier for a salesman to answer your question if you ask something like: will 4.12.UE1 I4GL for SunOS 4.1.3 run on Solaris 2.4. Yours, Jonathan Leffler (johnl@informix.com) #include <disclaimer.h>