don@BRILLIG.UMD.EDU (Don Hopkins) (03/06/89)
To: NeWS-makers@brillig.umd.edu
From: mcvax!enea!naggum!isncr!m2cs!frode@uunet.uu.net (Frode Odegard)
Have anyone done a dbxtool-like program which runs under NeWS, or
will we have to wait for Sun Microsystems to do something? I have
obtained a Sun technical paper which explains how dbxtool communicate
with dbx, but before I start hacking it would nice to know if I'm
duplicating other people's work..
- Frode
*Don't* wait for Sun! Go ahead on your NeWS dbx tool! I'm working on a
visual NeWS debugger/browser, for NeWS processes and data structures.
(As opposed to Unix processes, like dbx.) I haven't posted it yet,
because I know it has problems running in color, and I need to fix
them first. To fix them, I need to run NeWS in color, and the 3/50 I
use just doesn't cut it.
Sun donated a color Sun to the University of Maryland Human Computer
Interation Lab, almost a year ago, but it still hasn't been delivered
yet. They have promised its delivery at least 5 times since before
Christmas, and every time it was not delivered when they said, so I
cannot say when I will be able to post the debugger.
What I have learned from this experience: If you want a Sun delivered
before it is obsolete, you have to pay for it. Unless the salesman is
making a commission, don't believe him when he gives you a delivery
date. If Sun donates a machine to you, and you don't have a year to
wait around for its delivery, you should take the money you saved by
not buying a Sun, and buy a machine from some other company. (You
might consider a Mac II running A/UX, the Silicon Graphics Personal
Iris, or [if you have NeWS sources] the new MIPS machine from DEC, if
you can stand the keyboard.)
Potential Sun employees take note: I have heard from a reliable source
(as opposed to the salesman handling the fiasco), that Sun ships
machines to employees at an even lower priority than they ship
donations.
Our research has really been held back by this "donation". A year is a
very long time in our field of work. We were going to buy a 3/60,
before they said they'd donate a machine to us. Had they not donated
anything, we would have had the 3/60 a long time ago. (The salesman
reassured me that none of these delays would have happened if we'd
paid for it.) NeWS is almost impossible to use on a 3/50, but we've
been trying to do the best we can. (Sun's idiotic policy on third
party 3/50 memory upgrades sure hasn't given us any hope.)
If you've had problems with Sun donations, please get in contact with
me, so I can consider your experiences in my summary to Sun-Spots.
-Don Hopkins