John Ruschmeyer wrote:
>
> > > Of course, it's a good feeling to even have the option.
> > > Because 10 - 12 years ago, what were your UNIX options, if
> > > you weren't the government or a university?
> > >
> > > 1) You could buy expensive hardware that ran a UNIX variant.
> > > 2) You bought a workstation from Sun or Apollo - still not cheap.
> > > 3) If you were lucky, you got one of the few Cromemcos or
> > > Perkin-Elmer desktops, that ran UNIX. But they weren't
> > > much less expensive than the Sun, Apollo, etc workstations.
> > > (Fortune's desktops were in the workstation price range.)
> > > 4) If you were really lucky, you found a good deal on a used
> > > PDP from someone with a UNIX license who forgot to wipe the
> > > disks or tapes - but then you were illegal.
> > > 5) You bought Minix. Minix was cheap, and you got source, but
> > > it was really meant to be a teaching tool. It was well done,
> > > but extremely limited. (Nevertheless, Tanenbaum's _Operating
> > > Systems Design and Implementation_ is still an excellent book.)
> > > 6) If you were *really* lucky, you got a good deal on a working
> > > workstation.
>
> Three more thoughts...
>
> 7) You shell out big bug for XENIX or Microport SVR2 on the AT.
My two TRS-80 Model 16s were bought when their leases expired and
the companies chose not to do the buy-out. One cost me $300, the
other cost me $250 back in '85 and '86, since the Radio Shack
Computer Center managers didn't want them either -- they had Tandy
6000s. Since I was still working for Radio Shack at the time, I
wasn't too concerned about the licensing issues of upgrading to
the latest version of the Xenix runtime and development software.
> 8) You buy one of the "fire sale" AT&T Unix PCs (7300).
That's what I did after my second TRS-80 Model 16 was murdered by
the electric company.
> 9) You "cheat" with a clone envoronment like Wendin's PC/Unix or
> early MKS toolkits.
The MKS Toolkit worked just fine on the Tandy 2000. Surprised the
Hell out of me, since so much other software was ill-behaved. The
MKS folks properly used the MS-DOS system calls instead of going
straight to the PC hardware.
--
Ward Griffiths <mailto:gram_at_cnct.com> <http://www.cnct.com/home/gram/>
WARNING: The Attorney General has determined that Alcohol, Tobacco,
and Firearms can be hazardous to your health -- and get away with it.
Received on Sun Jan 17 1999 - 03:43:50 GMT