reo@teltone (R.E. Overby) (09/03/83)
It was my impression that the original request for comments on
operating systems was to be by mail. The recent posting by hou5e!mat
makes me wonder if my assumption was incorrect. With respect to
hou5e!mat('s) question about how many systems could support vi, I guess
my question is ,"who would want to?" The following was mailed to the
original poster and represents (usual disclaimer) PERSONAL OPINION not
the company's etc., etc.
Flame if you must, but ask how long does it take for YOUR operating
system to do a low-level task like login.......I go get a cup of coffee
while the ruptured UNICORN muddles through its tasks. We (Teltone
Corp.) have 2 VAXEN, 2 PDP11/70's and a mess of misc PDP-8 & 11's
1 VAX has 4.1 bsd UNIX
1) UNIX is very flexible and a real hackers delight.... IF
said hacker is VERY patient. UNIX is SSLLOOOWWWWW!
1 VAX runs VMS
1) VMS is friendlier, better supported, infinitely faster but
somewhat less flexible. ie VMS is not a hackers hobby-system
2) Don't underestimate either the speed advantage or the
support. Unix documentation SUCKS! Not even my friends at the
Labs will defend the documentation
2 PDP11/70's run RSTSE V7. (something)
1) The RSTSE systems are very user friendly...ie make it as
hard as possible to do something stupid like copy a file over
an existing one, etc.
2) RSTSE will support several times the users with the same
system response as UNIX. Last night I was ONLY user on a VAX
750 and had things like loading an editor take 30- 40 seconds
where the 11/70 would do it in 2-6 seconds.
3) If you plan to write documents on the UNIX system, be
prepared to spend lots of time..the editors are highly
unfriendly and SLOW. nroff..the UNIX equiv. of rno is much
more powerful...so much so that it will actually run a
photo-typesetter. It hogs machine time like there was no
tomorrow. In contrast, RNO will do simple and FAST formatting
and can be learned in a couple hours.
In summary, each PROBABLY has its place, but if speed, ease of use and
documentation and support are important..stay away from UNIX.
My prompt for several months was "UNIX SUCKS!"
Bob Overby ...uw-beaver!teltone!reo
Teltone Corporation, 10801-120th Ave. Kirkland, WA 98033
206-827-9626 Ext.516