defaria@hpclapd.HP.COM (Andy DeFaria) (09/06/90)
Excuse me for the dumb question but: What Unix based PC's are available. I have no PC at present and am thinking of buying one. I tried a couple of local PC dealers and they showed me their best DOS setups. After sticking my finger down my thought and puking on the salesmans shoes :-) I decided that I would probably like a Unix based system. They said that they don't sell Unix based systems. So I would like some info on what's available in the way of Unix based PC's. How/Where would I get them? What software comes as part of the base Unix OS? What hardware is required? Prices? etc, etc, /etc! :-) What I'm looking for is somewhat of a scaled down model of what I have at work (an HP 9000 series 350 using X) for as cheap as possible. I want to have a color monitor, multiprocessing, C, Pascal and what not (can I get a Turbo Pascal for a Unix based system?) and, of course, editors like Emacs and/or vi. Although it's tempting to just go for the DOS system and use stuff like MS Windows 3.0, I would really like to be able to work on more than one thing at a time like at work. From what I've seen of MS Windows and DOS (probably the real culprit) you can't do this on the "standard" PC. Is this possible with a Unix based PC? Also, Unix is just a better environment than DOS anyway. One of my goals is to help my girlfriend learn more about computers and programming. DOS seems woefully inadequate and totally non-standard to be able to do anything "right". Also there is more market appeal for someone who knows Unix. Any info would be much appreceiated.
defaria@hpclapd.HP.COM (Andy DeFaria) (09/06/90)
Excuse me for the dumb question but: What Unix based PC's are available. I have no PC at present and am thinking of buying one. I tried a couple of local PC dealers and they showed me their best DOS setups. After sticking my finger down my thought and puking on the salesmans shoes :-) I decided that I would probably like a Unix based system. They said that they don't sell Unix based systems. So I would like some info on what's available in the way of Unix based PC's. How/Where would I get them? What software comes as part of the base Unix OS? What hardware is required? Prices? etc, etc, /etc! :-) What I'm looking for is somewhat of a scaled down model of what I have at work (an HP 9000 series 350 using X) for as cheap as possible. I want to have a color monitor, multiprocessing, C, Pascal and what not (can I get a Turbo Pascal for a Unix based system?) and, of course, editors like Emacs and/or vi. Although it's tempting to just go for the DOS system and use stuff like MS Windows 3.0, I would really like to be able to work on more than one thing at a time like at work. From what I've seen of MS Windows and DOS (probably the real culprit) you can't do this on the "standard" PC. Is this possible with a Unix based PC? Also, Unix is just a better environment than DOS anyway. One of my goals is to help my girlfriend learn more about computers and programming. DOS seems woefully inadequate and totally non-standard to be able to do anything "right". Also there is more market appeal for someone who knows Unix. Any info would be much appreciated
zeke@shamash.cdc.com (Robert Scott) (09/07/90)
In article <102570001@hpclapd.HP.COM>, defaria@hpclapd.HP.COM (Andy DeFaria) writes: > Excuse me for the dumb question but: > > What Unix based PC's are available. > > I have no PC at present and am thinking of buying one. I tried a couple of > local PC dealers and they showed me their best DOS setups. After sticking > my finger down my thought and puking on the salesmans shoes :-) I decided > that I would probably like a Unix based system. They said that they don't > sell Unix based systems. > > So I would like some info on what's available in the way of Unix based > PC's. How/Where would I get them? What software comes as part of the base > Unix OS? What hardware is required? Prices? etc, etc, /etc! :-) > > What I'm looking for is somewhat of a scaled down model of what I have at > work (an HP 9000 series 350 using X) for as cheap as possible. I want to > have a color monitor, multiprocessing, C, Pascal and what not (can I get a > Turbo Pascal for a Unix based system?) and, of course, editors like Emacs > and/or vi. > It sounds as if you are somewhat confusing the issue of hardware and operating system software here. What a PC dealer is showing you doesn't necessarily have to be DOS. If you have an 80386 based PC, you can run any one of several flavors of "real" unix, complete with all the goodies the "real computers" have. > Although it's tempting to just go for the DOS system and use stuff like MS > Windows 3.0, I would really like to be able to work on more than one thing > at a time like at work. From what I've seen of MS Windows and DOS > (probably the real culprit) you can't do this on the "standard" PC. Is > this possible with a Unix based PC? > With a 386, Windows 3.0 can do multitasking just fine. If you buy a 386 and put real UNIX on it, you can also call up DOS in a UNIX window (if you have the optional DOS under UNIX software). > Also, Unix is just a better environment than DOS anyway. One of my goals > is to help my girlfriend learn more about computers and programming. DOS > seems woefully inadequate and totally non-standard to be able to do > anything "right". Also there is more market appeal for someone who knows > Unix. DOS non-standard? Although being stuck with a 640K address space isn't exactly the nicest thought, remember that there are literally millions of copies of DOS running every day throughout the world. Gonna be a long time before UNIX gets to that stage. Besides, with a compiler like Turbo-C you can write code that is relatively if not completely transportable from DOS to UNIX and vice-versa. There are even UNIX tools and UNIX environments, including one with a full-blown Korn Shell, for DOS (the MKS Toolkit in particular). I like UNIX better than DOS myself, but there is a lot of software and challenge left in the DOS world. Many more really useful "tools" for everyday use are available, too. That's why I run Interactive UNIX and VP/IX on my machine (sometime just native DOS, too). Zeke -- ~~~~~~~~~~~ From the Shrine of the "Last Gasp of ETA Systems" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Extra zesty disclaimer: MINE! MINE! ALL MINE! <chortle snort froth drool> Robert K. "Zeke" Scott internet: zeke@eta.cdc.com Control Data Corp, Supercomputer Support Group
defaria@hpclapd.HP.COM (Andy DeFaria) (09/07/90)
I have been receiving email about this pretty regularly. Thanks, and I'm collecting and saving all useful info. My objective was to put out my feelers about this. I'm not rushing out and getting a PC tommorrow. Also, I'm not planning on summarizing on the net here although I might (so post here instead of emailing me). What I have basically learned so far is that there are several flavors of Unix for PC's ranging from inexpensive (Coherant) ones that do next to nothing (no networking, etc) to the more full blown Unixs like SCO Xenix and Interactive. The more expensive the OS the more capability and the more hardware you need (who said that hardware doesn't matter?). Also there are a number of DOS emulators for the Unix environment (and Unix-like shells and emulators for the DOS environment). I don't know exactly what I should do now 'cept that I'll follow up with some of these companies and see just how much of my right arm I need to cut off (if it's too much I'll need a mouse! :-) and then make a determination as to whether I would like to enter the Unix PC market now or wait for it to mature alittle and for prices to come down (or my paycheck to go up! :-).
vtcqa@shamash.cdc.com (Jeff Comstock) (09/14/90)
How much money do you want to blow ? If its around $10000, get a Sparcstation, or else look for a used HP ( 320 or 310 ), or a used Apollo, or maybe a Sparc1. You can get one of these machines used for between 3000 and 6000 dollars, and you even end up with a real computer. The only thing a PC is good for is a boat anchor. Jeff
martin@hq.af.mil (Gregory.J.Martin) (09/14/90)
In article <25817@shamash.cdc.com> jrc%brainiac.uucp@shamash.cdc.com writes: >You can get one of these machines used >for between 3000 and 6000 dollars, and you even >end up with a real computer. The only thing a PC >is good for is a boat anchor. > >Jeff Jeff, why is it I can get work done with my Boat anchor? Blanket statements such as yours only reflect a small (or closed) mind. Give us a break, huh? ...Greg Martin
rlim@hpspcoi.HP.COM (Ruth Lim) (09/25/90)
Uhmm, this may sound like a pitch for HP Vectra's (it is), but HP makes PCs that run unix. I'm not sure what model would be best for you, but HP does sell quite a few UNIX based PC's (or PC-based unix?). Just FYI. :-)