OT: does sco filepro run on freeBSD?

[Brian K. White]

On 4/4/19 1:14 PM, oldtony via Filepro-list wrote:
> Hi Experts - OT: does sco filepro run on freeBSD? What port is good to 
> use? - Thanks - Old tony
>

Basically, no.
https://www.phoronix.com/forums/forum/software/bsd-mac-os-x-hurd-others/932277-freebsd-12-looking-at-dropping-svr4-binary-compatibility

FP had a native freebsd version at least years ago if not still, but I 
would probably get the linux version myself. freebsd does have good 
linux binary compatibility, and realistically, if you're going to invest 
in getting a new version, the linux one should work on both linux and 
freebsd, but the freebsd one will only work on freebsd. I have not 
actually run the linux fp binaries under freebsd just to be clear.

I am not saying I already know it works perfect, I just know that in 
general, freebsd has had close to perfect linux binary support for 
decades, and it's an actively used feature by a lot of people so by now 
it's very solid and very thorough.

I wouldn't bother with virtualization to run your existing sco version 
unless you were just trying to keep an app on life-support like a head 
in a jar for a client without expecting to really work on it much going 
forward, or integrate with anything else.

Any existing unix version of fp converts pretty easily to any other unix 
version. IE, it's pretty easy to take an existing sco fp app and just 
copy the filepro files and menus etc to a linux box and run the native 
fp binaries. So, there's not much reason to preserve the original sco 
version. Just switch it over to linux.

There WILL be a host of details to fix up, but they are all pretty 
straightforward once you run in to each detail. I can't predict what 
they will be exactly, but in general it will be random simple things 
like the lp commands in the printer config file, you might have system() 
commands and menu F5 scripts that need to be adjusted a little. The main 
thing is you don't have to do anything special to convert the files like 
when you convert between unix & windows. Just simply copy them any old 
way. rsync, make a big tar, etc.

-- 
bkw