chuq%plaid@Sun.COM (Chuq Von Rospach) (05/01/87)
From: Jeff Wallace <jeffw@swindle.Berkeley.EDU>
I'm not that well versed in the world of desktop publishing, so
I thought I'd ask the people who know what they're talking about.
The company that I work for during summer break is currently
searching for a good desktop publishing system that can also be used
for the various other computing needs of the company. Presently
they are looking at getting one Mac SE, a LaserWriter and Aldus'
PageMaker software to handle the desktop publishing. For the
real computing they are looking at getting a few Suns (probably
3/50's).
This company doesn't want to spend a fortune and they really don't
want two separate systems. They are looking for the one system that
can do it all. The dealers that they are working with say that there
is no PageMaker-like software for Suns and the Mac SE can't handle
multi-processing.
I have seen a lot of recent news about the Mac ][, but according
to my sources A/UX won't be out for real until this fall at the
earliest. The company is looking for a system that they can buy
tomorrow (or very soon).
Basic requirements of company:
Cost - less than $25,000
DTP system - in use 20 hours a week
LaserWriter or equivalent
"Real" computing - 1 full-time person, 2 part-timers
Not necessarily restricted to a UNIX based system
My questions:
1. Is there any good DTP software for Suns? If so, who makes it?
2. What arrangement of hardware and software do you think would
best suit the given requirements?
3. What companies/persons/magazines should I point my boss in the
direction of for good information?
Please send your responses directly to me and if there is enough
interest I will summarize and post the results.
Thanks for the help.
Jeff Wallace Internet: jeffw@scam.Berkeley.Edu
U.C. Berkeley UUCP: ...!ucbvax!scam!jeffw
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Chuq Von Rospach chuq@sun.COM [I don't read flames]
There is no statute of limitations on stupiditychuq%plaid@Sun.COM (Chuq Von Rospach) (05/07/87)
Date: Mon, 4 May 87 18:05:02 pdt
From: decwrl!decvax!ucbvax!ucbcad!ames!styx!ihnp4!ihlpf!straka
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
You might want to talk to Interleaf. I think they put together a
low-end, standalone system on a Sun for ~30K ($29,990 last year).
I believe this included a laser printer.
I can't vouch for their quality, but they are the acknowledged leaders
in that market segment (except perhaps for Xerox).
Release 2 of Interleaf on a high-end Sun looked REALLY impressive (last
September), but was not shipping at the time.
For your purposes, you may want a Mac, but if you have Suns in house, ...
---
Rich Straka ihnp4!ihlpf!straka
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Chuq Von Rospach chuq@sun.COM [I don't read flames]
There is no statute of limitations on stupiditychuq%plaid@Sun.COM (Chuq Von Rospach) (05/08/87)
Date: Thu, 7 May 87 11:52:51 PDT
From: CPT Tullia <tullia@sri-lewis.arpa>
I'm using Interleaf 2.5 on a Sun 3 and for the most part, I'm
satisfied. However, it does have its shortcomings ...
Granted, it does not use the native environment. But who's to say that
Sun's mouse definitions are the best. For myself, I would hope for
some consistent user interface.
Perhaps I'm still a novice user but underlining, superscripts, and
subscripts are difficult to accomplish in text mode. And displays when
overlaying text on a graphics frame are not really WYSIWYG.
The chart building facility is excellent, permitting a great deal of
versatility, if one is willing to customize, although not necessary for
most applications. Since many of the charts appear
management-oriented, it's inability to import data for the charts may
be forgiveable.
Importing ASCII documents is also a bit disappointing. I find it
annoying that I cannot get left margin alignment on subitems in a list
-- I had always believed that leading spaces would maintain the same
width from line to line.
Interleaf may be market leader but I did not detect a difference
between the functionality it had on a Sun 2 and that which I now have
on the Sun 3.
Like most applications, it does have its warts. But, Interleaf has
provided a tool which is eminently usable -- especially if you like to
mouse a lot.
We do have a contingent which had previously used Interleaf and is now
using Frame. They seem to prefer it and it uses the native
environment.
Thom Tullia tullia@sri-lewis.arpa
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Chuq Von Rospach chuq@sun.COM [I don't read flames]
There is no statute of limitations on stupiditychuq@plaid.UUCP (05/15/87)
Date: Fri, 15 May 87 09:53:06 CDT
From: knutson@ngp.utexas.edu (Jim Knutson)
Organization: UTexas Computation Center, Austin, Texas
Try Frame Maker or Interleaf. Frame Maker is very close to Mac-like
software. Interleaf may be better for technical documentation.
Frame Maker seems to have better illustration capabilities.
See a review of Frame Maker recently posted in comp.unix.wizards
(I think).
Jim Knutson
ARPA: knutson@ngp.UTEXAS.EDU
UUCP: {ihnp4,seismo,kpno,ctvax}!ut-sally!ut-ngp!knutson
Phone: (512) 471-3241
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Chuq Von Rospach chuq@sun.COM [I don't read flames]
There is no statute of limitations on stupidity