allred@ut-emx.UUCP (Kevin L. Allred) (03/20/90)
On page 37 of the April Dr. Dobb's Journal is an add for a cheap UNIX clone ($100) called COHERENT from Mark Williams CO. I called them on the phone, and asked if they had a 386 specific version. The answer sadly is that currently they only have a 286 version, but that they were working on a 386 version. I made it clear that I was only interested in a real 386 version (no 64K segment limitations, and demand paged virtual memory), but I requested information from them regarding the product. According to the add the product is cheap because they independently developed a UNIX compatible kernel that is AT&T code free -- so naturally part of the purchase price isn't going to AT&T. In addition they ship C, Lex, Yacc and text processing with the standard system. They offer a 60 day money back guarantee. I would have already ordered it, if only it weren't 286 code --- I like to use gnuemacs and several other large memory type programs that won't fit into a 286. If any of you have tried (are trying) this product, I would like to hear what your experience is. I hope they get a 386 version out before they decide to can the program. I suspect there are a number of others out there who aren't quite ready to shell out the $600 for the comparable Everex package (ESIX) yet. If COHERENT never jells, there continues to be hope that a 386 MACH based product will appear soon, and then there is the FSF GNU project coming up in the wings. -- Kevin Allred allred@emx.cc.utexas.edu allred@ut-emx.UUCP
dbullis@cognos.UUCP (Dave Bullis) (03/21/90)
Mark Williams Co. has been around for a long time. About ten years ago two of us went to Chicago to check out Coherent and it looked pretty solid then. Alas, we decided to go for a proprietary O/S instead. In those days Mark Williams Co. was a bunch of hackers working out of the back of a beer sign factory. I haven't heard much about Coherent since then. -- Dave Bullis Cognos, Inc VOICE: (613) 738-1440 3755 Riverside Dr. P.O. Box 9707 FAX: (613) 738-0002 Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA K1G 3Z4 UUCP: uunet!mitel!sce!cognos!dbullis "I didn't know the terminals were haunted. The salesman didn't tell us."
fyl@ssc.UUCP (Phil Hughes) (03/22/90)
In article <26433@ut-emx.UUCP>, allred@ut-emx.UUCP (Kevin L. Allred) writes: > On page 37 of the April Dr. Dobb's Journal is an add for a cheap UNIX > clone ($100) called COHERENT from Mark Williams CO. Mark Williams and Coherent are real. I reviewed the XT version of Coherent years ago. The review appears on Page 28 of the March, 1986 issue of UNIX/World Magazine. At the time it was $500 and not a bad product. Not UNIX but pretty close for a reasonable price. I expect that in over 4 years they have managed to add features. -- Phil Hughes, SSC, Inc. P.O. Box 55549, Seattle, WA 98155 (206)FOR-UNIX uunet!pilchuck!ssc!fyl or attmail!ssc!fyl (206)527-3385
brad@looking.on.ca (Brad Templeton) (03/24/90)
Coherent is actually a very old product (in software terms) from aound 1982. It was primarily written by a good group of people, some of whom went on to form MKS (the makers of the toolkit). In fact, writing the MKS toolkit was similar work to writing Coherent, at least when it came to making all the tools. I don't know how much it has progressed since then, but the old Coherent would remind you a lot of V7. Small and capable of running on small machines. If you liked V7 you'll like it. If you're used to the mega-unix systems of today with GNU Emacs and 4.3BSD, you won't like it. -- Brad Templeton, ClariNet Communications Corp. -- Waterloo, Ontario 519/884-7473
mka@cs.odu.edu (Mark K Arquette) (03/24/90)
In article <118989@looking.on.ca> brad@looking.on.ca (Brad Templeton) writes: >Coherent is actually a very old product (in software terms) from aound 1982. >(Stuff deleted) This sounds very interesting but I missed the post (if there was one) that had the address of the vendors of Coherent. I don't have access to Dr. Dobb's so if someone could E-mail or posr the address and info from the original ad I would appreciate it.
randy@chinet.chi.il.us (Randy Suess) (03/24/90)
In article <118989@looking.on.ca> brad@looking.on.ca (Brad Templeton) writes: >Coherent is actually a very old product (in software terms) from aound 1982. >I don't know how much it has progressed since then, but the old Coherent >would remind you a lot of V7. Small and capable of running on small >machines. If you liked V7 you'll like it. If you're used to the >mega-unix systems of today with GNU Emacs and 4.3BSD, you won't like it. Just got off the fone with Bob Swartz, owner of MWC. He is an old friend from the original Chicago Area Computer Hobbiest Exchange. (C.A.C.H.E). Coherent will be shipping in 5 weeks for $100. It will include most of what is needed to run a UNIX flavor on a pc. Comes with all the normal stuff, including a uucp. Bob moved from the old beer sign factory (his dad owned it. Really weird old factory in a seedy part of Chicago. Go towards the back, and there were Macs, pdp/11's, pc's, Commodore UNIX boxes, all scattered around a couple of rooms. Anybody visiting usually ended up with a JB race car or hanging Shlitz waterfall picture) The $100 includes a complete set of manuals, including on-line. Bob can be reached at uunet!mwc!rs. -randy -- Randy Suess randy@chinet.chi.il.us
harrison@necssd.NEC.COM (Mark Harrison) (03/27/90)
In article <26433@ut-emx.UUCP>, allred@ut-emx.UUCP (Kevin L. Allred) writes: > If any of you have tried (are trying) this product, I would like to > hear what your experience is. Several former colleagues used Coherent as their base for a Unix port to a Nixdorf mainframe. They had a pretty high opinion of it. -- Mark Harrison harrison@necssd.NEC.COM (214)518-5050 {necntc, cs.utexas.edu}!necssd!harrison standard disclaimers apply...