[net.micro.pc] Summary of Un*x's for PC/XT

lee@stsci.uucp (Lee Butler) (05/22/86)

A few weeks ago I posted a request for opinions of Unix clones available
for the PC/XT.  The resposnses I got were divided as follows:

OS		recommendations		Comments
SCO Xenix	II			System III (now System V)
PC/IX		I			System III, no fortran
Venix		I			V7, no overhead from SIII/SV

It is interesting to note that the two recommendations for SCO Xenix also
advised against Venix.  The recommendation of PC/IX was interesting but
because it lacks fortran I dare not select it (my wife the physicist would
be upset at my selecting an OS without a fortran compiler for her use).
The one recommendation of Venix mentioned that Venix is V7 and had less system
overhead than the SIII and SV implementations.

Lee A. Butler		
Usenet: {astrovax,cfa,charm,osiris,nrao1,noao,jhunix}!stsci!lee
ARPANET: butler@brl
Death Star Comm-link: (301) 338-4531
Space Telescope Science Institute  3700 San Martin Drive  Baltimore, Md. 21218
-- 
Lee A. Butler		
Usenet: {astrovax,cfa,charm,osiris,nrao1,noao,jhunix}!stsci!lee
ARPANET: butler@brl
Death Star Comm-link: (301) 338-4531
Space Telescope Science Institute  3700 San Martin Drive  Baltimore, Md. 21218

dyer@spdcc.UUCP (Steve Dyer) (05/24/86)

SCO XENIX doesn't come with a Fortran, although I think you can buy a
Microsoft Fortran, which, in its DOS incarnation, is universally
reviled by Fortran connoisseurs.  In other respects, SCO XENIX V
is pretty good.  The "System III / V" overhead is a silly argument,
it seems to me.  You can always delete programs you don't want (if that's
what was meant.)  VENIX (at least early VENIXes) had a V6 file system
which is a bit faster than an untuned V7 file system, but I don't think the
difference is enough to make that the criterion for choosing a UNIX system
for your PC.  Recent VENIX systems are System V based.  Don't know what
their file system looks like.
-- 
Steve Dyer
dyer@harvard.HARVARD.EDU
{linus,wanginst,bbncca,bbnccv,harvard,ima,ihnp4}!spdcc!dyer