Robert.Wolov@samba.acs.unc.edu (Robert Wolov) (01/10/91)
With the promised release of a CD-ROM reader for the cube (as well as
3rd party drives) are there any plans to release NeXT system software
on CD-ROMS? This would seem an ideal medium as an option. I asked
my local NeXT SE who claims that there would be copyright problems.
I'm not clear what the differences would be between releasing software
on a stack of floppies (current policy) and a CD-ROM disk.
I'd be curious to any reactions from NeXT.com and the net in general.
The direction that I'm coming from is that my anticipated machine will be
a stand-alone. I would like an uncorruptible back-up for the system.
Robb Wolovosborn@cs.utexas.edu (John Howard Osborn) (01/11/91)
In article <2199@beguine.UUCP> Robert.Wolov@samba.acs.unc.edu (Robert Wolov) writes: >With the promised release of a CD-ROM reader for the cube (as well as >3rd party drives) are there any plans to release NeXT system software >on CD-ROMS? This would seem an ideal medium as an option. I asked >my local NeXT SE who claims that there would be copyright problems. I would say that if I had a cd-rom drive I would very MUCH want system software to be distributed on cd-rom. It clearly makes more sense to get (or press) a single cd-rom instead of all those floppies. On the other hand, NeXT could take a clue from Sun. In order to squish the SunOS 4.1.1 distribution onto 2 tapes, they compressed most of the operating system files. Doing this would considerably reduce the number of required floppy disks. Of course, I doubt that NeXT will listen to us....we're only customers and developers. - -John H. Osborn -osborn@cs.utexas.edu
bb@reef.cis.ufl.edu (Brian Bartholomew) (01/14/91)
In article <16764@cs.utexas.edu> osborn@cs.utexas.edu (John Howard Osborn) writes: > I would say that if I had a cd-rom drive I would very MUCH want system > software to be distributed on cd-rom. It clearly makes more sense to > get (or press) a single cd-rom instead of all those floppies. Of course, it would make even more sense to distribute it on floptical; then the user community could get the same benefits from the media that NeXT would. Too bad the flopticals have been a bit dissappointing in reliability and speed. > On the other hand, NeXT could take a clue from Sun. In order to squish > the SunOS 4.1.1 distribution onto 2 tapes, they compressed most of the > operating system files. Doing this would considerably reduce the > number of required floppy disks. On yet another hand, this would make the installation require one more step, and make the floppies even more inscrutable for the naive user. Remember that NeXT is trying to make this easy for said naive user, not necessarily we experienced U*IX users. -- "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brian Bartholomew UUCP: ...gatech!uflorida!mathlab.math.ufl.edu!bb University of Florida Internet: bb@math.ufl.edu