markm@orca.UUCP (Mark Mehall) (12/13/85)
> Who better to ask for the following information than my friends on the > 'net', who know more about Unix and Unix Systems than anyone I know. > > It has been many months since I decided that I was going to purchase a > Unix System (preferably a micro)--a choice over the IBM-PC/PC-DOS and > PC-compatible/MS-DOS computers. But unfortunately information on Unix > Systems is available but hard to find. > > : Question #1: > : Is 'Unix World' the only magazine available for the Unix > : Operating System? In addition to 'UNIX/WORLD' there are 'UNIX Review', 'Communixations' a publication of /usr/group, and 'UNIQUE' from infopro systems. You might also want to look at the conference proceedings from the UNIFORUM conferences and the 'UNIX System Encyclopedia' from Yates Ventures. > > : Question #2: > : What microcomputers have 4.2BSD Unix available on them? > : How much do they cost (range)? Where are they available? The Tektronix Model 6130 is a 4.2BSD based workstation that has a 32-bit processor, 1 megabyte of parity memory (with 16 MB virtual addressability), 20 megabyte winchester (expandable to 40 or 80 MB), dual RS-232-C interfaces, Local Area Network (LAN) interface and ethernet TCP/IP and Distributed File System (DFS) software and a General Purpose Interface Bus (GPIB) all standard for $9,500. The system can be expanded with additional disk, interfaces, streamer tape drives and software products. A typical system will cost between $10,000 and $15,000. The system can be purchased through any Tektronix Sales Office (if you need a list let me know.) > > : Question #3: > : What kind of networking capabilities do these computers have? > : I need a computer that can handle five or six users simulta- > : neously. We use the ethernet standard (IEEE 803.2) with Transport Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) which handles the communications between a users program and other processes executing on the same workstation, at a different workstation on the LAN, or on a different network. We support the File Transfer Protocol (FTP), the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) and the Virtual Terminal (Telnet). We also have implemented a Distributed File System that allows a workstation to access files on other workstations as though they were resident locally. The 6130 can support up to 14 RS-232 terminal although we recommend 2 or 3 users per system. > > : Question #4: > : Is the Operating System usually packaged with the comp- > : uter or does it have to be purchased separately from > : other sources? We package the Operating System (which we call UTek) with the 6130 and have additional software packages for programming support, miscellaneous utilities, and compilers (FORTRAN 77, C, and PASCAL.) Other software is available from other vendors. > > : Question #5: > : What does the Unix 4.2BSD Operating System come with as > : standard software (i.e. such things as 'vi', 'troff', > : 'ingres'?)? Our UTek comes with approximately 150 4.2BSD and SYS V routines like assign, awk, basename, batch, cal, cat, chfn, chmod, cp, cpio, date, dd, echo, kill, ll, login, lpr, ls, mail, make, mkdir, more, mv, nice, nohup, od, page, passwd, pathof, pr, printenv, ps, pwd, rcp, red, repl, reset, rlogin, rm, rsh, scan, sed, sessions, sh, show, sleep, sort, strings, su, tail, talk, tar, tee, time, tip, touch, tr, tset, uniq, uptime, users, vi, wc, who, and others. (If you want a complete list, drop me a note.) > > : Question #6: > : What kind of software is commercially available for Unix > : 4.2BSD (i.e. word processing (not 'troff' or 'nroff'), > : database, spreadsheet, etc.)? The number of UNIX software packages is growing every day. I suggest you look at the 'UNIX Encyclopedia' for a list of some of the available packages. Tektronix offers a spreadsheet package (20/20), a wordprocessor (XED), a Casual User's Interface (CUI), a statistics package (Minitab) and a relational database manager (DaTek). I hope this helps to answer some of your questions. If you would like additional information on our systems, please contact our local office or drop me a note. Mark Mehall uucp: {ucbvax,decvax,ihnp4}! Tektronix Inc. tektronix!orca!markm P.O. Box 1000 60-770 CSnet: orca!markm@tek Wilsonville, Oregon 97070 ARPAnet: orca!markm.tek@csnet-relay WU Telex: 151754 TWX: 910-467-8707 ITT Telex: 4742109 Phone (503) 685-2275 FAX: (503) 682-3408 GRP III, II Auto