arasmith@mathcs.emory.edu (David Arasmith) (12/25/89)
Please excuse the ignorance in the following paragraphs, but (isn't there
always a 'but') I would like to get some information on running some
brand of UNIX on a 386 machine. I am currently running Sys V on a
68010 unixpc (AT&T) for my home machine. My reasons for floating
over to intel's architecture are:
1) Less expensive hardware and currently supported (the unixpc is
no longer supported and I am loathe to upgrade a dinosaur).
2) Compatibility with the TONS of DOS software, a real benefit for
my family (who are interested in ease rather than flexibility).
My expectations for a machine are 20Mhz 386, 2M RAM, moderate sized hard-disk
(cache??), VGA, etc.
This will be a personal machine, for the most part, since Suns dominate my
work place. My concerns are as follows:
1) Is 2M going to be sufficient RAM to run some flavor of UNIX
with the expectation that it will not be loaded with users?
2) Will the lack of a RAM cache severely cripple me?
3) Are the DOS emulators out there reasonably robust? Also,
are they reasonably cheap?
4) Am I going to be sorely dissappointed after working on Sun's all day?
Please respond via e-mail, since I'm sure very few other's will be interested
in this level of information. Any other information would be appreciated, i.e.
remarks about X windows, NFS, text formatters ([nt]roff, TeX, etc).
Thanks much!
--
David M. Arasmith | arasmith@mathcs.emory.edu Internet
Emory University | {sun!sunatl,gatech}!emory!arasmith UUCP
Dept of Math and CS |
Atlanta, GA 30322 | I should be working! Gee....I wonder what's on TV?larry@nstar.UUCP (Larry Snyder) (12/25/89)
> My expectations for a machine are 20Mhz 386, 2M RAM, moderate sized hard-disk > (cache??), VGA, etc. > > This will be a personal machine, for the most part, since Suns dominate my > work place. My concerns are as follows: > > 1) Is 2M going to be sufficient RAM to run some flavor of UNIX > with the expectation that it will not be loaded with users? 2 megabytes WILL work, but I would suggest getting 4 megabytes. I am running with an AMI motherboard that has 72 sockets for RAM chips - and can handle up to 8 megabytes - which I should be at later this week. If you plan on running Xenix instead of Unix, 2 megabytes should be fine for starters. > 3) Are the DOS emulators out there reasonably robust? Also, > are they reasonably cheap? Around $395 list prices for a limited users release which in most cases will be all that is needed. Running multiple DOS sessions under UNIX can "load" a machine real quick. -- Larry Snyder, Northern Star Communications, Notre Dame, IN uucp: root@nstar -or- ...!iuvax!ndmath!nstar!root