butler@brl-smoke.ARPA (Lee A Butler ) (10/16/87)
I am very interested in getting reviews of the new MINIX compilers. I have
just about drawn the conclusion that MINIX will never be fast/reliable enough
to be my XT's OS. Slow compilation/execution speed and lack of serial port
drivers has made MINIX nearly intolerable for day-to-day use. Unless the new
compiler really does fix the bugs, and compile faster to code that really does
execute faster, I'm looking at going back to DOS or forward to XENIX.
I realize that MINIX was designed as a teaching tool and not as an OS "to be
used", but I had had hopes.
Tired of waiting for the compiler...
--
Lee A. Butler butler@stsci.arpa | butler@brl.arpa
Space Telescope Science Institute Usenet: {noao,nrao1}!stsci!butler
3700 San Martin Drive SPAN: SCIVAX::BUTLER (6405::BUTLER)
Baltimore, MD 21218 Phone: (301) 338-4531jkg@pyr.gatech.EDU (Jim Greenlee) (10/18/87)
In article <6570@brl-smoke.ARPA> butler@brl-smoke.ARPA (Lee A Butler ) writes: >I realize that MINIX was designed as a teaching tool and not as an OS "to be >used", but I had had hopes. Replace "MINIX" in the above statement with "Pascal" and "OS" with "programming language", and you get some idea of just how popular something like this could become. Just goes to show that you never can tell :-). Jim Greenlee -- The Shadow...!{allegra,amd,hplabs,ihnp4,seismo,ut-ngp}!gatech!pyr!jkg Jryy, abj lbh'ir tbar naq qbar vg! Whfg unq gb xrrc svqqyvat jvgu vg hagvy lbh oebxr vg, qvqa'g lbh?!
context@uw-june.UUCP (Ronald Blanford) (10/19/87)
> The MINIX Version 1.2 C compiler is now available from the following > two companies. Contact them for pricing and other information. > > UniPress Software Transmediair Utrecht BV > 2025 Lincoln Highway Melkweg 3 > Edison, NJ 08817 3721 RG Bilthoven > USA Holland > Tel: (201) 985-8000 Tel: +31 (30) 78 18 20 I called UniPress this morning and received the following information. They will begin shipping the compiler in a week, starting 10/26 or so, and are already accepting orders. The compiler requires Minix version 1.2. The cost is $99 (check, VISA, MC). This includes the source. I assume the source will compile under Minix, though this was not explicitly stated. A binary is included, but there is no provision for a binary-only package. My question to AST: is there any way these companies could be influenced to distribute a lower-cost binary-only version (on the order of $25 or so). I sympathize with the plight of your graduate students, but being one myself I can't afford to buy sources for which I have no use. -- Ron
werner@nikhefk.UUCP (Werner Vogels) (10/20/87)
> The MINIX Version 1.2 C compiler is now available from the following > two companies. Contact them for pricing and other information. > > UniPress Software Transmediair Utrecht BV > 2025 Lincoln Highway Melkweg 3 > Edison, NJ 08817 3721 RG Bilthoven > USA Holland > Tel: (201) 985-8000 Tel: +31 (30) 78 18 20 I called Transmediar and they are selling the compilers for f 375 ($ 180). This is twice as expensive as the UniPress deal so don't order it in Holland. If you buy both the compilers (Pascal and C) you have to pay $180 for each of them. Transmediar didn't want to give a discount for ordering both, even if there is only a different front-end (cem and pem). So if you buy both the compilers you have two identical cpp's, opt's etc. I think the price I paid for the OS was very reasonable (I'm not a rich student) buth if i have to pay three times $180 (I would very much want the Modula2 comp as well) for compilers who are far from perfect it gets expensive in the end. I think there should be better deal like buying a set of binaries with all three front-ends present. I sympathize with the idea selling products to get extra money for students but as being a student without a such a sponsor I can't spent $500 on Minix. So I'll have to go looking for somebody who did buy it and ............ the VU students don't get any money at all. I hear a lot of noises like this from other students so if the system wants to work it should bring the prices down to the same level as the OS. Werner H.P. Vogels (this was personal and had nothing to do with the Institute) National Institute for Nuclear Physics and High-energy Physics Section Nuclear Physics, Computer Systems Group. postbus 4395 1009 AJ Amsterdam The Netherlands tel: +31 20 5922030 E-mail: ..!mcvax!nikhefk!werner (UUCP)