It is based on the Nexus thread modules and available to everyone who wants to try it out. The prototype has thread implementations for IBM, HP, Solaris thread as well as each system which supports pthreads, QuickThreads, or Cthreads. Referring to the last meetings, Carl Kesselman stated that the issue here is not what communication mechanism is used for multi-threaded programming but what abstraction is provided by the programming model. He then came forward with an new set of abstractions which originate from internal discussions of the Nexus group. A thread is created and assigned to a process.
Threads bind to communication endpoints for communication.
He noted that the process of defining these abstractions are still in an early stage. In the following discussion the attendees tried to clarify the definitions of the abstractions. It soon become clear that without a precise definition of these abstractions it was hard to discuss the issues and we also ran out of time. There were two action items discussed. The next meeting of the Ports group will probably held before or after Frontiers 95, Feb 6-9, 1995.