anita@utastro.UUCP (Anita Cochran) (07/01/88)
The latest issue of Byte magazine has a review of the Sun 386i, which
is their 80386 machine with UNIX and DOS running in a window. I read
the review and it was all oriented towards what the machine can do as
a DOS machine. The final paragraph was something like "Oh incidentally,
this machine runs UNIX too but it takes a guru to set it up". This
seems like a backwards approach to the machine since Sun's forte is
UNIX and isn't it nice you can occasionally run a piece of DOS software
(for certain applications such as database and spreadsheets, there are
more and better programs for DOS).
Now, I am not a UNIX guru but I am a system administrator so I doubt
that I couldn't set things up and run efficiently unless Sun has
done something really strange. Have they? How good a box is the
Sun 386i? Ignoring the DOS aspects, how does the 386i compare
to the standard Sun 3 running on the 68020? The price for the 386i
quoted in Byte looked quite high -- ~$18K for the more capable machine.
Can't you do better, price-wise, with a Sun 3/60? Is the 3/60 as
good a machine?
--
Anita Cochran uucp: {noao, ut-sally, ut-emx}!utastro!anita
arpa: anita@astro.as.utexas.edu
snail: Astronomy Dept., The Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX, 78712
at&t: (512) 471-1471rwl@uvacs.CS.VIRGINIA.EDU (Ray Lubinsky) (07/06/88)
In article <2833@utastro.UUCP>, anita@utastro.UUCP (Anita Cochran) writes: > a DOS machine. The final paragraph was something like "Oh incidentally, > this machine runs UNIX too but it takes a guru to set it up". This > seems like a backwards approach to the machine since Sun's forte is > UNIX and isn't it nice you can occasionally run a piece of DOS software > (for certain applications such as database and spreadsheets, there are > more and better programs for DOS). I didn't read the article, but SunOS UNIX is most certainly the operating system platform from which all things are run including DOS windows. As far as I can tell, it's being sold as a machine which gives you the power of a real operating system plus the ability to use your DOS software. > Now, I am not a UNIX guru but I am a system administrator so I doubt > that I couldn't set things up and run efficiently unless Sun has > done something really strange. Have they? How good a box is the > Sun 386i? Ignoring the DOS aspects, how does the 386i compare > to the standard Sun 3 running on the 68020? The price for the 386i > quoted in Byte looked quite high -- ~$18K for the more capable machine. > Can't you do better, price-wise, with a Sun 3/60? Is the 3/60 as > good a machine? This is a peeve of mine, but Sun definitely targeted the 386i for the PeeCee marketplace and included some features that cannot be found on other Sun systems, namely: 1.) UNIX comes installed on the disk; all the Sun people claim that you can get it out of the box and running on your network in 30 minutes or less. However, it comes with a generic kernel which you will have to reconfigure to get better performance. 2.) Window-based administration facilities. 3.) Hypertext help facility. 4.) An icon-based desktop organizer. I'll have to admit, Sun's East Coast division (the ones who produced the 386i package) were on the ball because they can sell the machine to the ex-PC crowd as a real engine that sets up like a PC and runs their already-purchased DOS software but gives them the magic of UNIX :-). As I remember, the 386i/150 is a little bit more powerful than the 3/60 (I've heard the price quoted as about $14K). The real reason for buying one is the DOS software compatibility and the AT expansion slots for PC peripherals. I hope that Sun will choose to integrate the features I listed into later releases of SunOS 4.? for all of their machines -- just because I know how to set up workstations and administer UNIX doesn't mean that I enjoy doing by hand! If they want to differentiate themselves from the rest of the UNIX workstation marketplace, they're going to have to make their systems so attractive to a broad base of purchasers that they are clearly the best system to drop into that customer's network. Well, enough of that. I hope some Sun types will comment on what they believe are Sun's intentions. I realize that everyone was hard at work producing the 4.0 release of SunOS at the time the 386i was being put together. -- | Ray Lubinsky, UUCP: ...!uunet!virginia!uvacs!rwl | | Department of BITNET: rwl8y@virginia | | Computer Science, CSNET: rwl@cs.virginia.edu -OR- | | University of Virginia rwl%uvacs@uvaarpa.virginia.edu |
exodus@mfgfoc.UUCP (Greg Onufer) (07/08/88)
> a DOS machine. The final paragraph was something like "Oh incidentally, > this machine runs UNIX too but it takes a guru to set it up". This You must have forgotten which magazine you were reading!! If it was Byte (and it was), then anything more complicated than setting up a MS-DOS, intel-based IBM or IBM-clone is _TOO_ complicated. They seem to think the "computer professionals" in this world base their life on MS-DOS. Sorry to disappoint them with the harsh reality--- REAL PEOPLE DO USE UNIX. If the 386i is similiar to the previous Suns, it will not take a guru to set it up. Just someone with common- sense and a little bit of Unix background. --oh, add patience. --Greg -- Greg Onufer GEnie: G.ONUFER University of the Pacific UUCP: -= Focus Semiconductor =- exodus@mfgfoc ...!sun!daver!mfgfoc!exodus (and postmaster/exodus@uop.edu) AT&T: 415-965-0604 USMAIL: #901 1929 Crisanto Ave, Mtn View, CA 94040