From: Thomas.Weihrich@arbi.informatik.uni-oldenburg.de (Thomas Weihrich)
Subject: Re: Solaris 2.x: resistance to it?
Organization: University of Oldenburg, Germany
Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1992 14:38:15 GMT

rhoward@matd.gatech.edu (Robert L. Howard) writes:

>Thomas.Weihrich@arbi.informatik.uni-oldenburg.de (Thomas Weihrich) writes:

>>Yes, at Augsburg University folks are not moving to Solaris 2.x.
>>We could have gotten it for free (Software maintenance contract), but we
>>will not renew the contract and run SunOS 4.1.2 instead.
>>Sun's new products aren't an option anyway, because we cannot run SunOS
>>4.1.? on them. So I guess we'll be using the Sun machines until they
>>break apart and then move to a different vendor (probably DEC).

>I just don't understand this...

>You don't want to change operating systems.  I assume this is 
>because of the learning curve and the cost of new software.

>So instead you will hang onto your Suns until you are forced to
>buy new machines from DEC (or HP or whoever) which *run a new 
>and different OS* !!

>Does nobody see the irony in this?

Well, I guess it is not only the Sys V transition that pissed many
people off. It's the attitude Sum has towards their customers. 
Sun is one of the extremely expensive vendors (at least
over here) - for example they charge you about USD 30 000 for a spare
4/110 CPU board or offer you an upgrade to a 4/330 or 470 for another
USD 70 to 80 000. That is the first problem. The 2nd problem is that a
lot of device drivers are missing in SOlaris 2.?. Take the ALM-I - it is
very inexpensive and works quite well for connecting terminals to a
server. Search for the driver in Solaris 2.? - you won't find it. Search
for SMD support in the new Solaris 2.? - there is none. So those sites
who are get their budget from the government and who just cannot pay for
expensive disks due to budget restraints - what should they do ? Dump
their old equipment just to get new stuff from Sun - without any support
? Re: Support:
Heck, they did not even care to answer a call regarding a machine for
which there was a hardware maintenance contract. So why should I buy
from them, if there is an alternative ? Decs are faster anyway, they are
cheaper (about 50 % of the Sun price over here for a comparable machine)
, Dec provides a C-Compiler and Dec has a better service. The operating 
system does not show too
many differences to SunOS ( I know that many of you will disagree here,
but it really depends on the applications). So why should I support a
vendor that chooses to ignore the needs of the scientific branch ?
And: those students who use Dec (or whatever) during their college
education; what will they recommend to their employer after graduation ?
Probably the machines they have worked with and did not experience
problems with during their college education.
May be I am just very unsatisfied with Sun - but would you buy from a
vendor that you are unsatisfied with ?
Or would you instead try to get rid of the old equipment or put it too
some use without upgrading it and look for a different vendor ?
I trashed my personal IPC because I did not like the way Sun treated
their customers. I see no reason to pay them the +USD 500 they charge
for an OS-upgrade. No reason at all.

Thomas Weihrich


-- 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thomas Weihrich
Thomas.Weihrich@arbi.Informatik.Uni-Oldenburg.DE

Thomas.Weihrich@WWWA.ORG < this is a perfectly valid email address :)

#include <std_disclaimer.h>

	> We had joy, we had fun, we had PACMAN for the SUN ... <
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: comp.sys.sun.admin