cy5@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu (Conway Yee) (12/08/90)
I have been reading the thread on the deficiencies of SCO Unix especially related to security. If SCO Unix is just so difficult to deal with, why is it so popular? Why is competition from other versions of Unix destroying SCO Unix? What would be a suitable replacement? Conway Yee, N2JWQ yee@ming.mipg.upenn.edu (preferred) 231 S. Melville St. cy5@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu (forwarded to above) Philadelphia, Pa 19139 yee@bnlx26.nsls.bnl.gov (rarely checked) (215) 386-1312
chip@chinacat.Unicom.COM (Chip Rosenthal) (12/09/90)
In article <1990Dec7.183300.1310@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu> cy5@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu (Conway Yee) writes: >If SCO Unix is just so difficult to deal with, why >is it so popular? What would be a suitable replacement? VMS. -- Chip Rosenthal 512-482-8260 | We was raising insurance premiums, ma. Unicom Systems Development | We was spreading fear of arson. <chip@chinacat.Unicom.COM> | - Michelle Shocked
davidsen@sixhub.UUCP (Wm E. Davidsen Jr) (12/09/90)
In article <1990Dec7.183300.1310@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu> cy5@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu (Conway Yee) writes: | | I have been reading the thread on the deficiencies of SCO Unix especially | related to security. If SCO Unix is just so difficult to deal with, why | is it so popular? Why is competition from other versions of Unix | destroying SCO Unix? What would be a suitable replacement? In order of your questions: 1a) because it is still a good product and you are hearing from a vocal minority (which include me) who find the benefits small and the cost in system administration large. 1b) because lots of Xenix users were convinced that this is the wave of the future 1c) good manuals, lots of drivers, lots of marketing, no better support available and lots worse, online man pages, cross compile to Xenix, OS/2, and MS-DOS. 2) It isn't. 3) Dell V.4 is a very cost effective system. However, in every case you should do a head to head comparison of SCO, ISC, ESIX, UHC (V.4), and Dell (v.4) before deciding. Caveat: count the add-on package costs if you need them, and look at bundles like OpenDeskTop. The big surprise is NFS which may be bundled or cost $300-500 depending on vendor. Oh, and hidden costs, like Dell only shipping on tape currently. -- bill davidsen - davidsen@sixhub.uucp (uunet!crdgw1!sixhub!davidsen) sysop *IX BBS and Public Access UNIX moderator of comp.binaries.ibm.pc and 80386 mailing list "Stupidity, like virtue, is its own reward" -me
campbell@redsox.bsw.com (Larry Campbell) (12/12/90)
In article <2542@sixhub.UUCP> davidsen@sixhub.UUCP (bill davidsen) writes a bunch
of stuff I mostly agree with, but then:
- 3) Dell V.4 is a very cost effective system. However, in every case
- you should do a head to head comparison of SCO, ISC, ESIX, UHC
- (V.4), and Dell (v.4) before deciding. Caveat: count the add-on
- package costs if you need them, and look at bundles like
- OpenDeskTop. The big surprise is NFS which may be bundled or cost
- $300-500 depending on vendor. Oh, and hidden costs, like Dell only
- shipping on tape currently.
Urgh. I've installed several different flavors of UNIX from floppies. I
would not wish that sort of menial labor on my worst enemy. Anyone who
configures a UNIX box without a tape drive, and any UNIX vendor who doesn't
ship their kit on tape, should have their head examined. With decent tape
drives with controllers coming in well under $500... it sure is worth $500
to me to not have to shuffle floppies for four hours.
--
Larry Campbell The Boston Software Works, Inc., 120 Fulton Street
campbell@redsox.bsw.com Boston, Massachusetts 02109 (USA)
The U.S. Constitution may not be perfect, but it sure beats
whatever we're using right now.davidsen@sixhub.UUCP (Wm E. Davidsen Jr) (12/13/90)
In article <1612@redsox.bsw.com> campbell@redsox.bsw.com (Larry Campbell) writes: | - $300-500 depending on vendor. Oh, and hidden costs, like Dell only | - shipping on tape currently. | | Urgh. I've installed several different flavors of UNIX from floppies. I | would not wish that sort of menial labor on my worst enemy. Anyone who | configures a UNIX box without a tape drive, and any UNIX vendor who doesn't | ship their kit on tape, should have their head examined. But that's your option. After all, the install only takes about 4 hours from floppy, and you are unlikely to do it often, and on a small system you can backup only the user files, which may be small enough to put on floppy. | ship their kit on tape, should have their head examined. With decent tape | drives with controllers coming in well under $500... it sure is worth $500 | to me to not have to shuffle floppies for four hours. I have a tape on every system I own, but I would not give up having a home UNIX system because I couldn't afford to buy a tape drive. -- bill davidsen - davidsen@sixhub.uucp (uunet!crdgw1!sixhub!davidsen) sysop *IX BBS and Public Access UNIX moderator of comp.binaries.ibm.pc and 80386 mailing list "Stupidity, like virtue, is its own reward" -me
allbery@NCoast.ORG (Brandon S. Allbery KB8JRR) (12/16/90)
As quoted from <2599@sixhub.UUCP> by davidsen@sixhub.UUCP (Wm E. Davidsen Jr): +--------------- | I have a tape on every system I own, but I would not give up having a | home UNIX system because I couldn't afford to buy a tape drive. +--------------- I would --- I had to backup a 3b1 with a 67MB drive to floppy a few times. I'm not about to try that again without a tape drive! ++Brandon -- Me: Brandon S. Allbery VHF/UHF: KB8JRR on 220, 2m, 440 Internet: allbery@NCoast.ORG Packet: KB8JRR @ WA8BXN America OnLine: KB8JRR AMPR: KB8JRR.AmPR.ORG [44.70.4.88] uunet!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!ncoast!allbery Delphi: ALLBERY
davidsen@sixhub.UUCP (Wm E. Davidsen Jr) (12/19/90)
In article <1990Dec16.024543.9817@NCoast.ORG> allbery@ncoast.ORG (Brandon S. Allbery KB8JRR) writes: | As quoted from <2599@sixhub.UUCP> by davidsen@sixhub.UUCP (Wm E. Davidsen Jr): | +--------------- | | I have a tape on every system I own, but I would not give up having a | | home UNIX system because I couldn't afford to buy a tape drive. | +--------------- | | I would --- I had to backup a 3b1 with a 67MB drive to floppy a few times. | I'm not about to try that again without a tape drive! The first incarnation of sixhub many years ago was one of the earliest 7300's, running on a paltry 1MB. Doing backups just like the ones you mention is what led to the original version of the "bundle" program. I don't back up to disk any more, but if I lost a tape drive I certainly would, as opposed to not backing up. Old mainframe guys believe that dumps are not important they're *vital*. I would give up beerfor a week or two to save up for a tapedrive though... -- bill davidsen - davidsen@sixhub.uucp (uunet!crdgw1!sixhub!davidsen) sysop *IX BBS and Public Access UNIX moderator of comp.binaries.ibm.pc and 80386 mailing list "Stupidity, like virtue, is its own reward" -me
klm@gozer.UUCP (Kevin L. McBride) (12/20/90)
In article <1737@chinacat.Unicom.COM> chip@chinacat.Unicom.COM (Chip Rosenthal) writes: >In article <1990Dec7.183300.1310@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu> > cy5@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu (Conway Yee) writes: >>If SCO Unix is just so difficult to deal with, why >>is it so popular? What would be a suitable replacement? > >VMS. CP/M. -- Kevin L. McBride |Contract programming (on and offsite) |Brewmeister and President |X, Motif, TCP/IP, UNIX, VAX/VMS, |Bottle Washer MSCG, Inc. |Integration issues, Troubleshooting. |McBeer Brewery uunet!wang!gozer!klm |Reseller of ISC UNIX and Telebit Modems.|Nashua, NH