mike@dolqci.UUCP (Mike Stalnaker) (04/22/85)
We've had Ultrix up for just about 6 months now; some general comments Ultrix-32 (and Ultrix-32m -- the subset of Ultrix-32 for microVAX) is based on 4.2 BSD (although I understand that Ultrix-32 1.1 has everything that 4.3 BSD has). Is is completely compatible with 4.2BSD -- same languages, same binary formats, same library formats, same system calls, etc. Digital added some things (applications and drivers) but did not take anything away. The error logging and reporting was changed to comply with what a DEC FE expects to see. VAX diagnostics may reside (and be booted I guess) on an Ultrix F/S. It was made fully installable, configurable and re-configurable from binaries (although sources are available). The installation procedure is ques/ans driven. In addition there are some System V utilities added (eg, cpio, cut, paste) as well as DECnet support, a Modula2 compiler, and other stuff as well as support for certain 3rd party applications. System V IPC is available (supported by the Ultrix Applications Center in Landover, Md, for now.) The system has been very reliable since we first brought it on-line six months ago. I have had the system crash a total of 5 times, 3 from my own dumb mistakes (while mucking about with adb) and twice from heat (the computer room here has very poor air-conditioning.) Support from DEC's staff has been excellent. In the initial release, uucp and tip did not support several modem types, simply because the code had not been compiled into uucp and tip. I called the UAC (Ultrix Application Center), and the next day, they shipped me re-compiled versions of the software including additional support. Since that time, I have encountered several minor problems that I needed source code changes to fix, and the people at the UAC have been exceptionally cooporative in helping me out. (If you buy the source code lisence, somthing I highly reccomend for ANY U*x system, most of things I've had to deal with would be 1/2 hour fixes). In fact, these were not really fixes, so much as enhancements. If I can be of any futher help, or answer any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me. -- Mike Stalnaker UUCP:{decvax!grendel,cbosgd!seismo}!dolqci!mike AT&T:202-376-2593 USPS:601 D. St. NW, Room 7122, Washington, DC, 20213 "You can have peace, or you can have freedom. Never count on having both at the same time." -Lazarus Long.