Subject: Re: Why is 3.91 so much slower than 3.90?

From: [email-masked] (Dennis Golden)
Date: Tue, 15 Nov 1994 21:46:23 GMT

And I just installed Pine 3.91, and it is almost an order of magnitude slower
initializing than 3.90.  This is a real problem that is preventing me from 
allowing production use.  The system is Dynix 3 on a Sequent Symetry and using
time for both 3.90 and 3.91 with an inbox size of ~160 messages:
	2x+	real
	~10x	user
	~1.5x	system
	
Any hints GREATLY apprciated.

Dennis Golden, Sabre Group, AMR Corp

In article <[email-masked]>,
Niclas Mattsson <[email-masked]> wrote:
>The difference is really noticable when starting and quitting pine. Why?
>Can 3.90 be sped up?
>
>Please reply to [email-masked], not the address above.
>
>Niclas Mattsson
>

---

From: [email-masked] (Jim Davis)
Date: 15 Nov 1994 18:55:55 -0700

In article <[email-masked]>,
Dennis Golden <[email-masked]> wrote:
:And I just installed Pine 3.91, and it is almost an order of magnitude slower
:initializing than 3.90.  This is a real problem that is preventing me from 
:allowing production use.  The system is Dynix 3 on a Sequent Symetry and using
:time for both 3.90 and 3.91 with an inbox size of ~160 messages:
:	2x+	real
:	~10x	user
:	~1.5x	system

I can't reproduce the problem on our S81 running Dynix 3.2.0.  I
tested times to open a big (1826 message) mailfile:

3.91:                20.2 real        12.8 user         4.0 sys  
3.90:                25.1 real        13.4 user         4.0 sys  
/usr/ucb/Mail:       38.6 real        32.0 user         3.0 sys  

So here at least 3.91 starts up faster than 3.90, and both are much
faster than the stock mailer.

---

From: Mark Crispin <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 16 Nov 1994 18:47:51 -0800

I am looking at this problem now.  Dennis' message to pine-bugs contained 
extra information which is very helpful.

I have a hunch of the cause, which could also very well explain why some
people see it and others do not. If this hunch is correct, it's a C
library bug.  But in order to give you a fix, I need to know the answers
to these questions: 

What is the difference between a Sequent Symetry and an S81, and what is 
the difference between Dynix 3 and Dynix 3.2.0?

Are these systems the BSD-like system formerly known as Dynix, or the 
SVR4-like system that is also known as PTX?

Which Pine port are you using (DYN or PTX)?

Dennis, if I gave you a patch, would you be able to build a new version 
and try it out?

Finally, has anyone else seen a slowdown between Pine 3.90 and Pine 3.91
in opening standard UNIX folders, and if so, what is the machine type,
operating system, and Pine port?  I am *NOT* interested in performance
reports between Pine 3.89 and Pine 3.91; there are other known problems
which are under investigation.  I am narrowing my focus to this particular
problem. 

-- Mark --