henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) (05/22/88)
> ... A Perq was capable of > very high performance when judiciously microcoded, but that didn't > sell enough of them to make up for all the disadvantages of > proprietary hardware and compilers. Well, there were a few other little problems, like spectacularly late deliveries... They also made the mistake of trying to re-invent the wheel EVERYWHERE: new processor, new operating system, etc. The result was more or less predictable: the initial releases, both firmware and software, were crude and buggy. A 68000 running Unix looked very good by comparison, even if it couldn't do graphics quite as quickly. Especially since the 68000-box manufacturer, an obscure little startup called "Sun", could deliver the thing more or less on time...