Re: Moving from linux to NetBSD-i386

[der Mouse <mouse%Rodents.Montreal.QC.CA@localhost>]

> I just loaded a PC with NetBSD 1.5.2 with the intent to use NetBSD
> in a embedded project.  I have been using Linux before and one of the
> features I liked was the command line editing with the help of the
> arrow keys.  Is this implemented in the kernel or shell ?  Can NetBSD
> support this ?

Yes, NetBSD can support it the same way Linux can: by using a shell
that supports it.  NetBSD's sh supports command-line editing via "set
-o vi" and "set -o emacs"; whether arrow keys will Just Work depends on
too many factors for me to say much about it.  You can also install
other shells that do command-line editing; I've seen bash running under
NetBSD, for example.  I have a fuzzy memory indicating that NetBSD's
csh also supports command-line editing, but I have no idea how to turn
in on, and may in fact be completely wrong in that regard.  I believe
we ship with a ksh, and I think ksh normally does command-line editing,
so presumably our ksh does too, but I've never tried it.

> Also what are the differences between the libraries libc.a, libc_p.a
> and libc_pic.a.

libc.a is a normal ar-format archive of the .o files making up the C
library.  libc_p.a is the same thing, except the files are compiled for
profiling.  libc_pic.a is the same again, except the files are compiled
position-independent.  (Conceptually there should be something like
libc_p_pic.a, but there isn't.)

libc.a is used when linking -static against libc.  (Without -static,
normally, one of the libc.so* files is used instead.)  libc_p.a is
presumably used when linking with -p/-pg, though I've never checked
into that in any detail.  libc_pic.a is not normally used directly;
rather, it is linked into a single file with --whole-archive to form
libc.so.  (I have never been clear on why the *_pic.a are installed in
/usr/lib.  Perhaps I'm wrong, and there *is* something that uses them
during normal operation.)

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