HFISCHER@USC-ECLB.ARPA (06/16/84)
From: Herm Fischer <HFISCHER@USC-ECLB.ARPA>
Readers of my review of PC/IX and Xenix have suggested that it is
important to point out that IBM markets its product as a single user
multitasking executive while Xenix is marketed as a multiuser product.
I suggested that both products are capable of multiuser use.
The license agreement
The PC/IX license agreement is very easy to read and straightforward:
You may:
a. Use the program on only one machine at any one time;
b. Copy the program into machine readable or printed form
for backup or modification purposes only in support of such
use...
c. Modify the program and/or merge it into another program
for your use on the single machine...
d. Transfer the program with a copy of this agreement to another
party only if the other party agrees to accept from IBM the
terms and conditions of this agreement...
You must reproduce and include the copyright notice on any copy...
You may not reverse assemble or reverse compile without IBM's
prior written concent...
[A sentence saying you may only do what is expressly permitted.]
You may not sublicense, rent, or lease this program.
As the reader may notice, there is no requirement to restrict the
number of logged on users to a single user, nor is there any statement
in the license about the number of simultaneous online users of the
"single machine" which runs PC/IX "at any one time".
The Xenix agreement is more severe, as I noted in my review, because
the software can only be used on a single computer system you
designate, and you must have a new and separate license for each
additional computer system; because you cannot make ANY copies of the
code or documentation; because you are explicitly given permission to
write in the margins of the manual (but I cannot underline or markup
the text???); and then the license contradicts itself by saying you
can make one backup copy of the software.
Practical Aspects of Multiuser Operation
IBM describes PC/IX as a single user system, and I agree, because the
8088 is not a processor capable of supporting multiple online
simultaneous "workers". It cannot provide reasonable response time if
two programmers are "making", or two secretaries are "nroffing",
simultaneously. But if one is doing an intensive operation and the
other is casually browsing a file, the degredation is less than with
three users making or nroffing together on a VAX.
Xenix claims their system is worth more money because they explicitly
sell it for multiuser use (even though such is not reflected in either
license agreement). I disagree. They cannot make the 8088 behave any
faster than PC/IX can. And if they do get 10% faster "C" execution,
then one must also note that PC/IX gets some faster shell response...
-------guy@rlgvax.UUCP (Guy Harris) (06/26/84)
One point, and one question:
1) The AT&T binary sublicenses for UNIX are priced according to the number
of users on the system for which the sublicense is issued. The single-user
license is *very* cheap (price starts at $100, after your first $1M of all
UNIX licenses it drops to $70, after your first $2.5M it drops to $40).
For 2-16 users it jumps to $250/$125/$50. (These are the S3 prices, which
apply to PC/IX which is an S3 port. I think the S5 prices are the same.
Nobody cares about the V7 prices for small systems because the S3 prices
are cheaper there and you can offer V7 or S3 for those prices.) If IBM is
sublicensing PC/IX with a single-user binary license, you *may not* add
another user to the system; this means you may not hang a send/receive
terminal off any serial (or other) port on the machine. (Anybody know
whether pseudo-ttys count - i.e., whether TELNET or "rlogin" has to be disabled
on single-user machines or throttled on multi-user machines?)
2) "The Xenix agreement is more severe, as I noted in my review...
because you are explicitly given permission to write in the margins of
the manual (but I cannot underline or markup the text???)..."
My, how generous of Microsoft. Are the manuals you get marked "Property
of Microsoft?" If not, I suspect there's no way they could stop you from
writing in the margins, underlining text, or drawing a "Kilroy was here"
at the top of every page.
Guy Harris
{seismo,ihnp4,allegra}!rlgvax!guy