VBRANDT%DBNUAMA1.BITNET@cunyvm.cuny.edu (07/25/89)
Hello all,
someone (sorry, deleted the message accidentally) asked which computer he
should get to run Minix on.
I recommend the Atari ST. Here are my reasons:
1. Usually, the thing is cheaper than comparable PC clones, at least here in
Germany. I bought a complete Mega ST 4 for less than the price of a 4 MB
EMS board for an AT clone. (On the other hand, ST hard disks are more
expensive than PC ones, unless you get a third-party drive or roll your
own.)
2. One version of Minix works on all ST versions, whereas it takes a little
fiddling to get Minix-PC working with all your PC hardware. This isn't
valid for some of the third-party add-ons for the ST, though.
3. Some programs work on Minix-ST, but fail on Minix-PC, due to memory segment
problems (I'm no PC expert, they surely have a better explanation).
Examples: The GNU C system, 16 bit compress, etc.
4. The ST is more user-friendly under its native OS, TOS. (There *are* times
you want to use your machine without Minix ... :-)
These are only my personal opinions, of course.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bitnet: VBRANDT@DBNUAMA1 (will go away late '89) Volker A. Brandt
UNM409@DBNRHRZ1 (soon) Angewandte Mathematik
UUCP: ...!unido!DBNUAMA1.bitnet!vbrandt (Bonn, West Germany)
ARPAnet: VBRANDT%DBNUAMA1.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU