eric@wucs.UUCP (03/22/84)
[Das Newsesser saugts!] I need a machine which will run UNI* 4.x bsd (x=2 desirable) or alternatively SysV. It should be reliable above all else, maintainable, and hopefully have a reasonable method of expansion to meet changing technology (ie, a nice bus and good support people). Running balls out it should support 3-4 people, with good 1-2 user response. Large capacity disk interfaces (SMD-eagle, maxtor et al.) should be available or promised in blood. 20-40Mb to start with is just fine. Must run uucp, news, and nroff. VM a very big plus. No 808x or other PDP-8 architecture machines need apply. 1-2 user only machines also considered. After attending most vendor exhibits at UniForum I was disappointed. "Sure it will! Ah, don't touch the keyboard kid... It slices, it dices..." ad nauseum. Some machines looked really good -- so good that you wonder why nobody is buying them. Others looked really bad but get good press. So, to increase my confusion through the miracle of statistics, I would like you to evaluate your Uni* machine and send me a synopsis. Please include facts and opinions alike, but both should be justified. "I hate the olive drab case" does not qualify as justification. Our site has been off the net for about 4 months or so -- if such a survey has been taken would someone send the results and post a message to the net saying they have done so? Otherwise, I will take the results and post them to the net at a later date. Discussion of the following characteristics is especially desirable: Company Date of Purchase Model Cost! Hardware: Configuration Disk Tape Serial Parallel Bus Networking Reliability Maintainability Other Peripherals Graphics Instrumentation Modems et al Software: Bundling (sp?) Reliability Maintainability Port Quality Kernel Libraries Utilities Proprietary Additions Networking Software TCP/IP? XNS? X.25? DECnet? Other? Performance: (Qualitative and Quantitative desired) Compilation Text Formatting Interactive Number Crunching List processing (ala LISP) uucp loading Support: Software Maintenance Telephone support Manuals Attitude Hardware Maintenance Ditto above Field Service Competence New Software Integration and Updates (or, Why can't we all have source licenses and do it ourselves?!?!?!) Overall Impression: Corporate Image and Style Informed, Helpful Sales People? (Oxymoron?) General Comments That is quite a bit of info -- don't feel obligated to do it all. Please include a reliable (set of) net address(es), as the info from the initial responses will be used to generate a reasonable questionaire (sp?) for later dispersement via mail. Is there anyone out there building a home-brew Uni* machine? Home brew Uni* port (whats Gnu with you)? Thanks in advance, eric Eric Kiebler Washington University in St. Louis -- ..!ihnp4!afinitc!wucs!eric