mike@mc0.UUCP (mike tankenson) (10/14/86)
Here is the result of the VAX 8600 UNIX survey that I posted to
net.unix a while ago. For those that missed it, I was inquiring about
UNIX experience on an 8600 (or related machines). I was interested in
the pros and cons of each of the following operating systems:
1) 4.3BSD (license + source code)
2) Ultrix
3) System 5
4) more/BSD from Mt. Xinu
Many thanks to everybody who sent me mail. I went through the responses and
summarized them as a tabular vote (note that some people recommended several
of the systems). After that, I include some sample remarks for each system.
4.3BSD: 18 votes, "An excellent choice","maintenance is a pain","powerful but
quirky","latest, fastest version","ethernet support much better than AT&T".
Mt. Xinu's more/BSD: 16 votes, "Bob Kridle walks on water","avoid the Mt. Xinu
stuff","Berkeley wizards who've gone into business","best performer","with
Mt. Xinu you get the Network File System".
Ultrix: 17 votes, "all the 4.2 networking stuff is in here","few bugs found in
Ultrix","remember the 'Ultrix is NOT unix wars'","does everything 4.2 does",
"best device support","support for MIT's X window system","nibbled to death
by ducks","better drivers","99% compatible between 4.[2.3] and Ultrix".
System 5: 3 votes, "business oriented, less emphasis on technical features",
"benchmarks better than 4.2 systems","no networking except AT&Ts","support
for a large user base","commercial standard","slow file system","standard that
will swallow the others","THE defacto standard unix","serious about networking,
avoid SYS 5".
SUMMARY
Those who supported 4.3BSD on the 8600 took the position that "gurus" were
going to be necessary whatever system we chose, so why not choose the "best".
Many commented on the fact that 4.3 is a MUCH tighter system than 4.2. Some
suggested that we could get better support from the NET than any vendor could
supply!
System 5 supporters claimed that S5R3 was going to out-perform that latest
offering from Berkeley. They also indicated that AT&Ts product was destined
to become the new UNIX standard. Detractors claimed that there was no
networking support, no NFS, and that BSD was the superior "environment". We
feel that you'll grow old waiting for standards to emerge and that, given the
proposed merger of 4.2 and S5 that Sun and AT&T are working on, perhaps the
issue will be settled once and for all.
Mt. Xinu had some supporters, but overall were not as well known as the other
contenders. Only 1 person had anything negative to say about them, and so
I put that down to bad luck. They include NFS with their product.
Ultrix had mixed reviews, but overall the responses were very good. I went
into this survey thinking that Ultrix was somehow an inferior UNIX, but
came out with more respect for their product.
-----
As for our decision, it will be made soon, and I think that the field has been
narrowed down to Ultrix vs. more/BSD from Mt. Xinu. In short, we will
probably opt for a supported 4.3BSD product. The main push for Ultrix would
be single vendor hardware/software. The main push for more/BSD would be
superior UNIX features and NFS.
By the way, please STOP mail responses on the survey. We feel we have more
than enough responses, but my mailbox fills up each day. If anybody wants to
follow up to this posting, please respond directly to me. Thanks.
--mike
--
Mike Tankenson
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Uucp: {sdcrdcf,bellcore}!psivax!mc0!mike
Arpa: ...mc0!mike@cit-vax.ARPA