[comp.os.minix] MacMINIX is now available

ast@cs.vu.nl (Andy Tanenbaum) (10/25/90)

This is probably a bit dated since people have already reported receiving
MINIX for the Macintosh, but it is now officially in stock at PH and shipping.

I delayed this announcement until I knew for 100% sure that they were shipping
it to avoid having people calling PH before they were ready.

Andy Tanenbaum (ast@cs.vu.nl)

hp48sx@wuarchive.wustl.edu (HP48SX Archive Maintainer) (10/25/90)

Is there anybody who knows a mail order company who will sell
MacMINIX ? I tried to mail Prentice Hall, but they tell me to use
the distributor in Norway, which is also responsible for Denmark.

If I order it this way, then I end up paying at least $250 and must
wait at least another month (This is just what I believe. I do not know).
I tried to E-mail to MacZone, but they never heard of it. This is the
place where I normally buy my software.

Povl
eco8941@ecostat.aau.dk   /   hp48sx@wuarchive.wustl.edu
-- 
*******************************************************
Povl H. Pedersen             hp48sx@wuarchive.wustl.edu
HP48sx archive maintainer

n8743196@unicorn.wwu.edu (Jeff Wandling) (10/25/90)

ast@cs.vu.nl (Andy Tanenbaum) writes:
>This is probably a bit dated since people have already reported receiving
>MINIX for the Macintosh, but it is now officially in stock at PH and shipping.

[.. stuff deleted ..]

Can you just order the software and skip the book? I got the book from
my bookstore on campus because it's required reading for a class. I
don't want to shell out another 50 bucks for a book I already got. Is
there a package from PH that contains everything except the book??.

Thanx in advance...

-- 
jeff wandling                             internet: n8743196@unicorn.cs.wwu.edu
cs ugrad @ western washington university             illegitimi non carborundum

sam@chook.ua.oz (Sam Sangster) (10/25/90)

From article <8041@star.cs.vu.nl>, by ast@cs.vu.nl (Andy Tanenbaum):
> 
> This is probably a bit dated since people have already reported receiving
> MINIX for the Macintosh, but it is now officially in stock at PH and shipping.
> 
> it to avoid having people calling PH before they were ready.

Except that in Australia we have to wait 'till January 1991, and pay about
$300 Australian (equivalent of ~$400 US) ... any comments why the extra cost?

> 
> Andy Tanenbaum (ast@cs.vu.nl)

Sam Sangster                      |   Internet: sam@cs.adelaide.edu.au
University of Adelaide, Australia |   AppleLink: AUST0153
Apple Consortium                  |   Ph: 61 8 228 5441  Fax: 61 8 223 1206

Sam Sangster                      |   Internet: sam@cs.adelaide.edu.au
Apple Consortium		  |   AppleLink: AUST0153
University of Adelaide, Australia |   Ph: 61 8 228 5441  Fax: 61 8 223 1206

ast@cs.vu.nl (Andy Tanenbaum) (10/26/90)

In article <1990Oct24.214240.525@unicorn.wwu.edu> n8743196@unicorn.wwu.edu (Jeff Wandling) writes:
>Can you just order the software and skip the book? 

The book is NOT included in the software package.  What it contains is the
disks, plus a reference manual.  There is little overlap with the book.

Andy Tanenbaum (ast@cs.vu.nl)

ast@cs.vu.nl (Andy Tanenbaum) (10/26/90)

In article <1687@sirius.ucs.adelaide.edu.au> sam@chook.ua.oz (Sam Sangster) writes:
>Except that in Australia we have to wait 'till January 1991, and pay about
>$300 Australian (equivalent of ~$400 US) ... any comments why the extra cost?

Most companies sell to their foreign branches at only slightly below the
retail price.  They jack up prices to cover their costs.  This is true of
virtually everything.  Check out Australian prices on other computer things
and compare them to ads in Byte.

When I was a student in Berkeley, I had friends who flew to Germany, bought
a Volkswagen from the factory, spent a month driving around Europe and
had the car shipped back to California for less than what the same car
cost from the Berkeley Volkswagen dealer.  

Andy Tanenbaum (ast@cs.vu.nl)

sschnellm@cc.curtin.edu.au (10/26/90)

In article <1687@sirius.ucs.adelaide.edu.au>, sam@chook.ua.oz (Sam Sangster) writes:
> From article <8041@star.cs.vu.nl>, by ast@cs.vu.nl (Andy Tanenbaum):
>> 
>> This is probably a bit dated since people have already reported receiving
>> MINIX for the Macintosh, but it is now officially in stock at PH and shipping.
>> 
>> it to avoid having people calling PH before they were ready.
> 
> Except that in Australia we have to wait 'till January 1991, and pay about
> $300 Australian (equivalent of ~$400 US) ... any comments why the extra cost?


How do you get $300 (Australian) to be the equivalent of $400 (US) ?
And where exactly are we going to get MacMINIX from ? Directly from PH
in Sydney ???

archetyp@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu (Joseph R Pickert) (10/26/90)

sam@chook.ua.oz (Sam Sangster) writes:

>Except that in Australia we have to wait 'till January 1991, and pay about
>$300 Australian (equivalent of ~$400 US) ... any comments why the extra cost?

January is the official "publication date" (copyrights and all that)
as it is here in the US, but I have been told you should see it sooner than
that. [But don't mistake this as a promise]

International branches of PH set their own prices on their products.
In addition, you deal with our various governments attempts to placate
domestic interests (i.e., export/import taxes).

Joe Pickert

archetyp@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu (Joseph R Pickert) (10/26/90)

hp48sx@wuarchive.wustl.edu (HP48SX Archive Maintainer) writes:

>Is there anybody who knows a mail order company who will sell
>MacMINIX ? I tried to mail Prentice Hall, but they tell me to use
>the distributor in Norway, which is also responsible for Denmark.

I have repeatedly urged PH to get in contact with MacConnection.
They claim they are. If enough people call their favorite mail order
companies and request it, I'm sure it would encourage the various
parties to do something.

Joe Pickert

hp48sx@wuarchive.wustl.edu (HP48SX Archive Maintainer) (10/27/90)

I have tried to mail MacZone twice. The first time they asked me
what MacMINIX was, and when I told them, then they just gain asked
for a description.

So I would be glad if all Macintosh users, and maybe a few others
would send mail to MACZONE@AppleLink.Apple.COM asking for the price of
MacMINIX, and please include a small description of the program, like
it is a low-cost UNIX lookalike for the Macintosh, and is published by
Prenntice-Hall. This may even get the price down, as the mail order
companies try to be cheaper than normal software stores.

I am not sure if there is anything that will prevent us from doing
this legally. But if we all gave them a phonecall, then it would be OK.

Povl H. Pedersen
eco8941@ecostat.aau.dk   /   hp48sx@wuarchive.wustl.edu

-- 
*******************************************************
Povl H. Pedersen             hp48sx@wuarchive.wustl.edu
HP48sx archive maintainer