From: mykes@amiga0.SF-Bay.ORG (Mike Schwartz)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re:   I am giving up on the Amiga
Date: 12 Aug 92 10:10:49 GMT
Organization: Amiga makes it possible
X-NewsSoftware: GRn 1.16f (beta) by Mike Schwartz & Michael B. Smith

In article <root.028b@rkamiga.UUCP> root@rkamiga.UUCP (Rick Kelly) writes:
> In article <mykes.0bsd@amiga0.SF-Bay.ORG> mykes@amiga0.SF-Bay.ORG (Mike Schwartz) writes:
> >In article <root.027z@rkamiga.UUCP> root@rkamiga.UUCP (Rick Kelly) writes:
> >> In article <mykes.0bj3@amiga0.SF-Bay.ORG> mykes@amiga0.SF-Bay.ORG (Mike Schwartz) writes:
> >> >In article <torrie.712890026@Xenon.Stanford.EDU> torrie@cs.stanford.edu (Evan Torrie) writes:
> >> >>   How much for a Dell EISA machine?  It was Dell vs Apple that we were
> >> >> comparing.
> >> >>
> >> >
> >> >$300 more than for the ISA machines.  No local bus video - YET.
> >>
> >> How is the local bus video implemented?  Is it built into the motherboard
> >> or is it a dedicated slot?  If it is a dedicated slot, is there an industry
> >> standard for it?  How well does the local bus video work with current UNIX
> >> packages?
> >>
> >
> >Localbus is built into the motherboard.  There is no industry wide standard
> >for localbus slots - YET (there WILL be).  There is a 32-bit data path to
> >the localbus video, or so it claims on the Dell D/50 and P/50 flyers I
> >picked up...   Considering Dell makes Unix and Dell makes the machine,
> >expect it to work :)  I see nothing that makes this implementation of
> >localbus video to be incompatible with any other SVGA (i.e. the "standard")
> >implementation.
> >
> >> I need yet another UNIX box, and I'll probably buy Dell SVR4.  It might
> >> make sense for me to buy a complete PC + UNIX package from Dell.
> >
> >FWIW, many people suggest other flavors of Unix which are cheaper :)
>
> Dell has fixed the most bugs in SVR4.  Some of the cheaper SVR4 packages
> are just straight compiled USL sources.  Dell also includes all the good
> stuff from GNU, ready to run.
>
> If I buy a Dell box, I can get the full Dell SVR4 with unlimited user
> license for $795.  This is per their latest price list.
>

I bought the Dell box, and I like it very much - even better than my A3000.
Not because it is new - the colorful GUI, superhires 1024x768 graphics, and
the 17" monitor make it a pleasure to sit in front of.  I decided to run
DOS 5 and windows on it after using both OS/2 and Windows.   I try to stay
away from command.com as much as possible and stay in the windows environment
and it is working out well for me.

I installed OS/2 - fullblown, and it is a marvelous piece of work.  Too bad
there aren't enough OS/2 specific apps to make it useful.  As well, I called
IBM to ask if I could get the 1024x768 mode to work and they told me that
this mode is NOT supported by OS/2.  And I was unhappy with the way it jumped
me in and out of full-screen stand-alone Windows and Command.com sessions when
I clicked on various icons...  And borland C++ crashed under it in every way
I tried - commandline, windows environment, and dos environment.  So I gave
up on OS/2 for now.

For what it's worth - if OS/2 were well supported (IMO, it is NOT), it would
be the finest OS on the planet.  The GUI is wonderful - the desktop buries
Amiga OS' workbench.  The on-line documentation is a joy to use.  The whole
experience reminded me of the Indigos I have seen close up.

I shocked a few people on IRC by quitting and rebooting OS/2 a few times
to prove how fast the Dell machine really is.  They claimed OS/2 was slow -
but not in my experience.  8Meg of RAM probably helped :)

All in all, I'd bet that the Unix Dell sells works quite well and the machine
will be quite snappy.  The only thing I don't like is that it is a 25MHz
DX2 instead of a true 50MHz machine.  Can't have everything, though :)

Lastly, Dell is 100% manufactured in the USA.  Perhaps the RAM chips aren't,
but the CPU (intell) and the machine (Dell) are USA made.  Dell has excellent
customer and technical support and the people I talked to on the phone were
very friendly.  Dell is in Texas, USA.  (CBM is in PA, but also manufacturs
in the Philapenes).

> It may be a good deal, depending on the hardware cost.
>

If you are stuck on Unix, go for it.  You can get TCP/IP/NFS drivers in the
PD (for dos/windows), linux is PD, too.  If you already have Unix, you might
want to broaden your horizons a little, but this is my humble opinion... :)

> When I'm finished, I'll have my Amiga 2000 talking to my current UNIX box
> with DNET, and the 2 UNIX boxes talking to each other with TCP/IP.  I'll
> be able to sit in front of one keyboard and use 3 machines.
>

Well, I have a Sun 3/60 set up and ready to install Unix on it.  I ordered
an ethernet card and software for the Amiga...  A fine ethernet board for the
PC is about $150.  I will end up with all three machines and 3 different OSes
at my fingertips - instead of just 2.  Makes for a few more apps for me to use.


> --
> Rick Kelly		Rick's Amiga		Framingham, Mass.
>
> 		think!unixland!rmkhome!rkamiga!root
>

--
Amiga programmer of: GRn, MailMinder, Budokan, Beyond Dark Castle, Dark Castle
Sega Genesis programmer of: Dick Tracy and Marble Madness.
Mike Schwartz  (ames!zorch!amiga0!mykes or mykes@amiga0.sf-bay.org)
1124 Fremont Ave.
Los Altos, CA 94024
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy