
                  Answers to frequently asked questions
                  for my implementation of POSIX threads

Question: What are pthreads?
Answer:   Pthreads stands for POSIX threads. Currently their is NO
          POSIX thread standard, just drafts. The last draft circulated
          was draft 8, in October 1993. I expect that it won't be
          approved and another draft will be circulated soon.

Question: I've read somewhere that the calling arguments for the
          pthread function FOO() was BAR but your implemnentation
          is BAZ. Which is right?
Answer:   If I've implemented the function foo() then my implementation
          is probably correct according to the current draft of pthreads.
          I've tried to keep my implementation as up to date as possible.
          The discrepency you are seeing is probably because you've
          seen the OSF/DCE implementation of threads which was based
          on draft 4 of the POSIX thread standard, and there has been
          significant changes to the interfaces since then.
          There is one discrepency to this see below.

Question: What about pthread_detach()
Answer:   The latest draft has completely removed this function from the
          standard. I've considered this very a rather bad move on their
          part and have kept pthread_detach(). It is based on the last
          draft to contain the pthread_detach() function (draft 7).

Question: Where do I get the latest draft of pthreads? 
Answer:   You can try IEEE which is the organization which POSIX belongs.
          I have found them to be completely unhelpful for my needs and
          have had to go out and beg for my own copy. Usually they
          release the previous draft just in time for the next draft to
          go up for balloting.

Question: Where can I get this implementation?
Answer:   You can try sipb.mit.edu:/pub/pthreads or
          toxicwaste:/pub/archive/pthreads

Question: Where can I get documentation?
Answer:   I haven't written man pages yet, and I only have some of the
          functions available online. You can find them under my home page.
          HTTP://www.mit.edu:8001/people/proven/home_page.html
