RLN101%URIACC.BITNET@mitvma.mit.edu (Marshall Feldman) (08/17/89)
Maybe we can focus the discussion if we ask about some interesting specifics: Is a SUN 386i a workstation? Why? or Why not? If I soup up a 386 PC (on an MCA or EISA bus?) when, if ever, would it be a workstation? What is an AT&T 7300? (No jokes or flames please! If IBM had made the original UNIX-PC instead of its MSAWFUL 8088 machine, we wouldn't be having this discussion).
drs@bnlux0.bnl.gov (David R. Stampf) (08/17/89)
>From: Marshall Feldman <RLN101%URIACC.BITNET@mitvma.mit.edu> >Subject: What is a Workstation? (What should GNU ...) >To: Unix Wizards Discussion List <unix-wizards@brl.mil> >Message-Id: <8908170656.aa09688@SMOKE.BRL.MIL> > >Maybe we can focus the discussion if we ask about some interesting specifics: > >Is a SUN 386i a workstation? Why? or Why not? >If I soup up a 386 PC (on an MCA or EISA bus?) when, if ever, would it be >a workstation? A few years ago, Bill Joy described a workstation in terms of 6 M's. I think that the description is still fairly valid. Mip processing power Million Pixels Megabyte network Megabye of memory (hah!) Mouse Multuser/tasking Operating System This was about 5 years ago, and you could multiply each of these by a an appropriate power of 2. If you use this as a measuring rod, then the PC's and Mac's of the world don't cut it, but a 386i easily fits. The M's aren't arbitrary either. They measure the user interface, the compute power and your ability to connect to other like powered machines. Some boxes with 386's are workstation and some aren't. >What is an AT&T 7300? (No jokes or flames please! If IBM had made the >original UNIX-PC instead of its MSAWFUL 8088 machine, we wouldn't be having >this discussion). > I often wonder what the world would be like had the 8088 based PC been delayed a few years - no stupid memory limitations, no trying to teach novice programmers the difference between near and far pointers, a real OS (a lot more like OS/2 then CPM) etc. But 640K looked infinite back then... < dave
peter@ficc.uu.net (Peter da Silva) (08/18/89)
In article <20638@adm.BRL.MIL>, drs@bnlux0.bnl.gov (David R. Stampf) writes: > A few years ago, Bill Joy described a workstation in terms of 6 M's. I > think that the description is still fairly valid. Well, the original was the CMU 3-M criterion: MIP/Million Pixels/Megabyte. > Mip processing power > Million Pixels > Megabyte network > Megabye of memory (hah!) > Mouse > Multuser/tasking Operating System By this standard an Amiga 2000 with a network card and a Viking monitor is a workstation. Certainly a Bell Tech Blitstation-200 qualifies many times over. And that's a PC. -- Peter da Silva, *NIX support guy @ Ferranti International Controls Corporation. Biz: peter@ficc.uu.net, +1 713 274 5180. Fun: peter@sugar.hackercorp.com. `-_-' "Optimization is not some mystical state of grace, it is an intricate act U of human labor which carries real costs and real risks." -- Tom Neff