
                  Answers to frequently asked questions
                  for my implementation of POSIX threads

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1. Pthreads

(1.0) What is Pthreads?
(1.1) Where can I get info on Pthreads?

2. Getting, Building, Installing and Using proven's Pthreads

(2.0) Where can I get the latest version of proven's Pthreads?
(2.1) What platforms does proven's Pthreads run on?
(2.2) What do I need to build proven's Pthreads?
(2.3) How do I install proven's Pthreads?

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1. Pthreads

(1.0) What is Pthreads?

Pthreads stands for POSIX threads and is based on the POSIX 1003.1c 1995 
thread standard. This standard passed international Standards Organization 
(ISO) Committee Document (CD) balloting in February 1995 and got the 
IEEE Standards Board approval in June 1995.


(1.1) Where can I get info on Pthreads?

You can call IEEE (908) 562-3800 which is the organization which POSIX 
belongs, and ask for POSIX 1003.1c (not 1003.4a) draft 10 (the standard
won't be out until sometime in 1996). The draft costs $30.00 plus shipping 
which for me was $4.00. The IEEE doesn't make any of the standards available 
online. 

I have made documentation for some of the of the functions available online.
To reference these use http://www.mit.edu:8001/people/proven/pthreads.html

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2. Getting, Building, Installing and Using proven's Pthreads

(2.0) Where can I get the latest version of proven's Pthreads?

The latest version is pthreads-1_60_beta6 was release on Nov 11, 1996
and is available from sipb.mit.edu:/pub/pthreads.


(2.1) What platforms does proven's Pthreads run on?

Lot's! It should run on the following platforms; the i386 processor
running NetBSD-1.x, FreeBSD-2.x, BSDOS-2.x, Linux-1.x and Linux-2.x; 
the r2000 (DECstation) running Ultrix-4.2; the Sparc running NetBSD-1.x, 
SunOS-4.1.3, SunOS-4.1.4, Solaris-2.3, and Solaris-2.4; the alpha running 
NetBSD-1.x, OSF-2.3 and OSF-3.x; the SGI running IRIX-5.2; and the HPPA 
running HP/UX-9.x and HP/UX-10.x.

Because it runs on so many platforms I don't get to compile and test every 
platform for every release. If you have a problem send mail to
pthreads-bugs@mit.edu with the processor, OS, and version number along with
a description of the bug.


(2.2) What do I need to build proven's Pthreads?

You will need gcc and gmake to build for all but NetBSD, FreeBSD and BSDOS.
For those you may use either gmake or pmake (the native make).


(2.3) How do I install proven's Pthreads?

Installing pthreads is real easy. At the top level of pthreads do

configure
make
make install

It will be installed into the directory /usr/local/pthreads. If you don't 
like the installation location add a --prefix=<dir> option to configure. 

                  Answers to frequently asked questions
                  for my implementation of POSIX threads


