trb@ima.ima.isc.com (Andrew Tannenbaum) (03/07/89)
In article <1652@trantor.harris-atd.com> wcurtiss%x102c@trantor.harris-atd.com (William Curtiss) writes: > [ As a side note, Interactive was recently bought by Kodak. ] William, I can't imagine what your intention is by associating Interactive with Microport death rumors. Our sale to Kodak was completed in July 1988, it's not exactly hot news. With Kodak capital, we aren't exactly close to bankruptcy; in fact, if you want some current ISC news, we're buying Lachman Associates. (This is a fact that has been released by us to the public, not a secret or a rumor.) Associating Interactive with Microport death rumors is unfounded if not insidious. Andrew Tannenbaum Interactive Cambridge, MA +1 617 661 7474
dzzr@beta.lanl.gov (Douglas J Roberts) (03/07/89)
In article <3422@ima.ima.isc.com>, trb@ima.ima.isc.com (Andrew Tannenbaum) writes: > In article <1652@trantor.harris-atd.com> wcurtiss%x102c@trantor.harris-atd.com (William Curtiss) writes: > > > [ As a side note, Interactive was recently bought by Kodak. ] > > William, > I can't imagine what your intention is by associating Interactive with > Microport death rumors. Our sale to Kodak was completed in July 1988, > it's not exactly hot news. With Kodak capital, we aren't exactly close > to bankruptcy; in fact, if you want some current ISC news, we're buying > Lachman Associates. (This is a fact that has been released by us to > the public, not a secret or a rumor.) Associating Interactive with > Microport death rumors is unfounded if not insidious. > > Andrew Tannenbaum Interactive Cambridge, MA +1 617 661 7474 Insidious rumors? In talk.rumors?? Perish the thought. --Doug
jeffrey@algor2.UUCP (Jeffrey Kegler) (03/07/89)
In article <3422@ima.ima.isc.com> trb@ima.UUCP (Andrew Tannenbaum) writes: >In article <1652@trantor.harris-atd.com> wcurtiss%x102c@trantor.harris-atd.com (William Curtiss) writes: > >> [ As a side note, Interactive was recently bought by Kodak. ] > >I can't imagine what your intention is by associating Interactive with >Microport death rumors. I have trouble imagining what you are so sensitive about. As someone who reccomends the various flavors of UNIX to clients, William's posting did nothing to undercut the good impression I have of Interactive. I mean, postings are traditionly informal and often rambling, but he went to the trouble of placing it in brackets and prefixing "As a side note", for heaven's sake. Postings like William's are what I read news for. The additional materials in Andrew's were also helpful. I do not like to leave the accusation that a perfectly proper, responsibly presented and true remark should not have been made, unanswered. Usually, I think what I have just said is more appropriate for Email, but I worry about the potential chilling effect. I would worry if a company feels it has to supress comment about it on the net. -- Jeffrey Kegler, President, Algorists, jeffrey@algor2.UU.NET or uunet!algor2!jeffrey 1788 Wainwright DR, Reston VA 22090
wcurtiss@x102c.harris-atd.com (Curtiss WC 67625) (03/07/89)
In article <3422@ima.ima.isc.com> trb@ima.UUCP (Andrew Tannenbaum) writes: > >William, >I can't imagine what your intention is by associating Interactive with >Microport death rumors. Our sale to Kodak was completed in July 1988, >it's not exactly hot news. With Kodak capital, we aren't exactly close >to bankruptcy; in fact, if you want some current ISC news, we're buying >Lachman Associates. (This is a fact that has been released by us to >the public, not a secret or a rumor.) Associating Interactive with >Microport death rumors is unfounded if not insidious. > That is the idea I was attempting to convey: that Interactive is backed by a sound company. I'm sorry if it sounded that I was impling otherwise. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- William Curtiss 407/984-6383 | "The only good martyr Harris GISD, Melbourne, FL 32902 | is a dead martyr." Internet: wcurtiss%x102c@trantor.harris-atd.com |
beser@tron.UUCP (Eric Beser) (03/07/89)
In article <3422@ima.ima.isc.com>, trb@ima.ima.isc.com (Andrew Tannenbaum) writes: > In article <1652@trantor.harris-atd.com> wcurtiss%x102c@trantor.harris-atd.com (William Curtiss) writes: > > > [ As a side note, Interactive was recently bought by Kodak. ] > > William, > I can't imagine what your intention is by associating Interactive with > Microport death rumors. Our sale to Kodak was completed in July 1988, > it's not exactly hot news. With Kodak capital, we aren't exactly close > to bankruptcy; in fact, if you want some current ISC news, we're buying > Lachman Associates. (This is a fact that has been released by us to > the public, not a secret or a rumor.) Associating Interactive with > Microport death rumors is unfounded if not insidious. > > Andrew Tannenbaum Interactive Cambridge, MA +1 617 661 7474 I read the previous article, and as an unbiased opinion, I saw nothing linking Interactive with Microport. To me, being bought by Kodak was somewhat comforting, knowing that we won't be dealing with a here today, gone tomorrow business. Please continue the free flow of information, we see no death threats for our authors here. thanks for providing your insights. Eric Beser Westinghouse ESG Baltimore
karl@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Karl Denninger) (03/07/89)
In article <3422@ima.ima.isc.com> trb@ima.UUCP (Andrew Tannenbaum) writes: >In article <1652@trantor.harris-atd.com> wcurtiss%x102c@trantor.harris-atd.com (William Curtiss) writes: > >> [ As a side note, Interactive was recently bought by Kodak. ] > >William, >I can't imagine what your intention is by associating Interactive with >Microport death rumors. >......if you want some current ISC news, we're buying >Lachman Associates......Associating Interactive with Microport death >rumors is unfounded if not insidious. I'll give you that..... but: Why is it that Interactive (at least their East Coast offices) is playing Microport-style games with the bugs in the 2.x version of the software? We have a customer who bought (against our recommendation) your 1.0.6 software. There was (and IS) a confirmed BUG in the installation procedure which makes the BFI method of bad track entry worthless -- that is, it can't do math correctly and calculates an incorrect sector offset. Your California offices have confirmed this as a bug during our telephone conversations. Unfortunately, the only method of bad track reporting that I have ever seen on a fixed disk from the factory has been head/cyl/BFI.... V2.0 STILL had this problem, as did the "fix" disks that were sent (2.0.1?). As of this day the trouble still exists. Interactive has tried to claim "you're the only one who has the problem", but we have a nice email letter from another person who has run into the EXACT same difficulty, and HAS reported it! "Brian" at your East Coast offices is still maintaining (to the customer; we've since dropped our interest in your OS!) that this one installation is the ONLY one where the problem has surfaced. It would be really nice if software was tested before shipment, especially parts of the software that are essential to proper installation of a working package! I love the speed of your new V2.x release, but with this nasty problem in the installation portion of the package I couldn't recommend your product with a clear conscience. -- Karl Denninger (karl@ddsw1.MCS.COM, ddsw1!karl) Data: [+1 312 566-8912], Voice: [+1 312 566-8910] Macro Computer Solutions, Inc. "Quality solutions at a fair price"
mg@gritty.UUCP (mitch geier) (03/08/89)
Microport Dead? The Real Story
I spent 3 days at Uniform with a few X Uport employees who were
busily distributing there resumes to companies like Sun & Cray
(who incidentally are both looking for good people).
Any way what follows is information extracted from those people.
It's up to you to determine the accuracy of what follows.
1 Uport was forced to move into Televido's building, due
to non payment of rent.
2 They owe monies to both AT&T and Locus.
3 The President of the company resigned 2 weeks ago after
making sure enough money was given to ADP to cover
salaries.
4 All of Uports staff was let go on Feb 24 th
5 Some staff members were brought back as outside con-
sultants on a temporary basis.
From the above, it appears, while they are not out of business
yet it is probably soon to come !!!!!
No matter how popular you are |Mitch Geier |USnail:
No matter how many friends you |{..}!rutgers!gritty!mg |CECG Inc
have the size of your funeral |Computer Education and |201 Throckmorton La
will be determined by the weather |Consulting Group Inc. |Old Bridge NJ 08857brian@cbw1.UUCP (Brian Cuthie) (03/09/89)
In article <3422@ima.ima.isc.com> trb@ima.UUCP (Andrew Tannenbaum) writes: >In article <1652@trantor.harris-atd.com> wcurtiss%x102c@trantor.harris-atd.com (William Curtiss) writes: > >> [ As a side note, Interactive was recently bought by Kodak. ] > >William, >I can't imagine what your intention is by associating Interactive with >Microport death rumors. Our sale to Kodak was completed in July 1988, >it's not exactly hot news. With Kodak capital, we aren't exactly close >to bankruptcy; in fact, if you want some current ISC news, we're buying >Lachman Associates. (This is a fact that has been released by us to >the public, not a secret or a rumor.) Associating Interactive with >Microport death rumors is unfounded if not insidious. > > Andrew Tannenbaum Interactive Cambridge, MA +1 617 661 7474 Touchy, touchy, touchy... I actually read William's article to imply that while uPort was going out of business (finally!), that Interactive was doing well and in fact had been purchased by a LARGE company with great capital resources. I have owned the uPort product since it first came out on the 286. I'm running a 386 now and things have been better, but I was seriously wondering how long it would take the pressures of competition to put those guys out of business. They just didn't (don't) seem to be able to get *anything* right. -brian -- Brian D. Cuthie uunet!umbc3!cbw1!brian Columbia, MD brian@umbc3.umbc.edu
trb@ima.ima.isc.com (Andrew Tannenbaum) (03/10/89)
> I actually read William's article to imply that while uPort was going out of > business (finally!), that Interactive was doing well and in fact had been > purchased by a LARGE company with great capital resources. Problem with vague statements and usenet and rumors is that different people will interpret them in different ways. You can't rely on people interpreting things the sensible way. Now, as for Karl Denninger's note about poor response on his troubles with bad block handling in 386/ix 2.0, we in the Cambridge, MA office of ISC (not the east coast office Karl refers to, which is, I believe, our support office in Hollis, NH) are having problems with the bad block support, and we are banging on the 386/ix hackers (in Santa Monica) to fix it as well. So, we know it's a bug. If one of our support people didn't realize it was a bug, give him a break. Now he knows. My biased personal opinion follows: I think 386/ix 2.0 is a really hot system for the bucks. Way fast, with X11r3 support for decent monitors, networking, runs Xenix binaries, runs DOS applications including Flight Simulator, etc. It might still have nits, but we're working on getting 'em out, and I think we have a broader base of hardware and software options than any of our Sys V 386 competitors. Andrew Tannenbaum Interactive Cambridge, MA +1 617 661 7474
cc1@valhalla.cs.ucla.edu (Max Kislik) (03/11/89)
In article <3445@ima.ima.isc.com> trb@ima.UUCP (Andrew Tannenbaum) writes: ... >My biased personal opinion follows: I think 386/ix 2.0 is a really hot >system for the bucks. Way fast, with X11r3 support for decent >monitors, networking, runs Xenix binaries, runs DOS applications >including Flight Simulator, etc. It might still have nits, but we're ... What is 386/ix ? Is it the new AIX from Locus or is it the other 386 UNIXl-like OS made by this other Santa Monica software developer whose name I can't recall.
trb@haddock.ima.isc.com (Andrew Tannenbaum) (03/12/89)
Sorry to William Curtiss and you all for my snapping at him here - I read his note in talk.rumors (which doesn't get all the 386 netnews), and I hadn't been reading comp.unix.microport. His grouping ISC in with failing Microport seemed out of context in talk.rumors, whereas both companies are commonly discussed in comp.unix.microport. In that sense, other folks might have been similarly confused in a similar context. In article <21589@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU> cc1@cs.ucla.edu (Max Kislik) writes: > What is 386/ix ? Is it the new AIX from Locus or is it the other 386 > UNIXl-like OS made by this other Santa Monica software developer whose > name I can't recall. 386/ix is the UNIXl-like OS made by the other Santa Monica software developer whose name you can't recall. It is derived from the 386 UNIX reference port, which the other company produced for AT&T - the reference port that is at the base of all AT&T Sys Vr3 386 UNIX systems. Andrew Tannenbaum Interactive Cambridge, MA +1 617 661 7474
williamt@athena1.Sun.COM (me) (03/12/89)
Maybe interactive will provide an upgrade to those people who are stuck with the microport software... Seems they would gather a large number of clients that way. BTW. has anyone else noticed the apparent bug in the terminfo entry for the console on V/386 under microport? Seems there is both an insert mode and an insert character entry. The manpage indicates that only one of the two should be used unless both are needed. I noticed the problem when I had output that should have been shifted to the right on a given line, and it wasn't being shifted properly. Deleting the entry for the insert character in the terminal description fixed the problem.
nvk@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Norman Kohn) (03/13/89)
In article <191@gritty.UUCP> mg@gritty.UUCP (mitch geier) writes: > > Microport Dead? The Real Story > > 4 All of Uports staff was let go on Feb 24 th That may well be the case, but I've spoken with sales and technical people at uport in the past week. I can't vouch for the size of the present technical staff... -- Norman Kohn (...ddsw1!nvk!norman) eves: 373-0564 days/ans svc: 650-6840
williamt@athena1.Sun.COM (me) (03/14/89)
Was just on the phone with uport tech support. Mentioned the current flavor of rumors on here and that they should have someone sign on and comment officially from the company. This person said that while they had undergone some recent reorganizations, they were still going to be around for a while. He also mentioned that some of their competitors have been engaging in going out of business rumors off and on for the past 2-3 years... William A. Turnbow
noel@ubbs-nh.MV.COM (Noel Del More) (03/20/89)
In article <93566@sun.uucp> williamt@sun.UUCP (me) writes: > > Maybe interactive will provide an upgrade to those people who >are stuck with the microport software... Seems they would gather a >large number of clients that way. > At one time SCO was offering a trade-in deal, turn in your Microport Disks and get 50% off Xenix. I got the whole SCO Xenix 386 package for under $800. That was last September, so I don't know about the current status of the offer. I won't tell you what I think of Interactive, but if you want a copy cheap send mail. Noel -- Noel B. Del More | {decvax|harvard}!zinn!ubbs-nh!noel 17 Meredith Drive | noel@ubbs-nh.mv.com Nashua, New Hampshire 03063 | It's unix me son! `taint spozed tah make cents