herbie@watdcsu.UUCP (Herb Chong [DCS]) (02/14/85)
announced today by IBM (among other things). this is para-phrased
from the announcement newsletter. what, if any, impact will this
have on the future of Unix and it's direction for development?
----------------------------------
[IBM has] also announced IX/370 to satisfy a growing requirement
for UNIX function on IBM systems. IX/370 is based on UNIX System
V Release 2 and provides consistent function across IBM's
System/370 processor range.
The announcement of UNIX function on System/370 architecture,
operating with VM, provides a proven, reliable base for UNIX.
Existing knowledge of both System/370 and VM can be used to
support the installation and operation of UNIX functions.
***
Full-duplex ASCII devices, such as the IBM 3101 or the IBM PC,
are supported through a channel-attached Series/1 and the IX/370
ASCII Control Feature. And because IX/370 runs under VM, other
VM functions such as CMS can also be run on the same IBM
processor.
----------------------------------
Herb Chong, BASc
Computer Consultant
I'm user-friendly -- I don't byte, I nybble....
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N2L 3G1 (519)885-1211 x3524dmcanzi@watdcsu.UUCP (David Canzi) (02/14/85)
In article <954@watdcsu.UUCP> herbie@watdcsu.UUCP (Herb Chong [DCS]) writes: >announced today by IBM (among other things). this is para-phrased >from the announcement newsletter. what, if any, impact will this >have on the future of Unix and it's direction for development? >---------------------------------- >[IBM has] also announced IX/370 to satisfy a growing requirement >for UNIX function on IBM systems. IX/370 is based on UNIX System >V Release 2 and provides consistent function across IBM's >System/370 processor range. If past experience is any indication, IBM's magic touch will turn gold into lead, and herds of people will rush to buy it. -- David Canzi "But lo! men have become the tools of their tools." -- Henry David Thoreau
dmcanzi@watdcsu.UUCP (David Canzi) (02/14/85)
Another prediction: It will not be quite compatible with any other version of Unix, and companies that provide software for Unix will soon be advertising their software as "IBM compatible." -- David Canzi "But lo! men have become the tools of their tools." -- Henry David Thoreau
herbie@watdcsu.UUCP (Herb Chong [DCS]) (02/14/85)
some more notes.
1) with the simultaneous announcement of the new Sierra machines with
the top end model rumored to be a 8 by 16MIPS processor, it will be
possible now to run Unix (IX/370) on a machine that can support up to
1000 simultaneous users. the number of entries in the /etc/passwd file
will be possibly in the tens of thousands. is the unix file system up
to handling such a task. how about the /usr/utmp file? is there a
fundamental limitation of the file system design that could restrict
extremely large applications?
2) with official announced support of such a system by IBM, how much
are they going to influence the directions for development of Unix?
will it really take a nose-dive in terms of design and execution?
Unix itself has grown much from the early days and is no longer the small
system that could be easily understood by one person. at the risk of many
flames, i see it as somewhere along the path that OS/360 has evolved.
as people ask for more functionality, Unix is growing too. will it, ten
years from now, be some oversized system that takes 30 or 40 people busy
just fixing bugs in the system? Unix is slowly headed that way now.
whether it gets there remains to be seen.
3) how is AT&T taking this? i'm sure they're going to welcome the
increased revenue. can IBM break AT&T's monopoly on the Unix system
vis a vis licensing? do they want to?
4) how about amdahl? their UTS system has been around for a while but
hasn't taken off in popularity as it could easily have. with the system 5
port just announced, they are once again in direct competition with IBM
for operating systems for /370 and 370-XA machines.
Herb Chong, BASc
Computer Consultant
I'm user-friendly -- I don't byte, I nybble....
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N2L 3G1 (519)885-1211 x3524phil@amdcad.UUCP (Phil Ngai) (02/20/85)
> 4) how about amdahl? their UTS system has been around for a while but > hasn't taken off in popularity as it could easily have. with the system 5 > port just announced, they are once again in direct competition with IBM > for operating systems for /370 and 370-XA machines. > > Herb Chong, BASc Aside from the problem of applications (not a small problem) the issue of full duplex I/O (ie vi and such) isn't addressed by Amdahl in a way that I would like. IX/370 can use a relatively inexpensive Series 1 to support 32 full duplex lines at 9600 baud. If you need 64 lines, spend another $40K and get another 32 lines. Amdahl's solution to full duplex is 3 to 4 times as expensive and their salesman keeps wanting me to run 4800 baud. In addition I don't think Amdahl appreciates how hard it is for us to buy non IBM hardware, especially something Japanese like the 4705. (Japan is a real sore point at my company) It's too bad because I would favor Amdahl for several reasons: 1) mature product compared with IBM's 2) source available 3) pascal 4) none of this Interactive "let's be different to be different" software like Ined, Inmail, etc. This is just my perception of the situation and not an official company statement. -- This is my opinion, I guess. Phil Ngai (408) 749-5720 UUCP: {ucbvax,decwrl,ihnp4,allegra}!amdcad!phil ARPA: amdcad!phil@decwrl.ARPA