HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: Joseph R. Grace <JGrace@TetraSoft.com>
Subject: DriverKit and ObjC++ (wishfully)
Organization: TetraSoft International
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1993 21:24:24 GMT

In article <1993Jan27.153856.23260@dvorak.amd.com> rpomeroy@aunext1.amd.com  
(Ron Pomeroy x(Coop)) writes:
>  Your probably right but...
>  
>  Designing a *resuable* OO framework for DriverKit has got to be challenging.   
>  Hell, just getting all the info needed for an anlysis phase sounds painful.   
>  You're talking about taking some pretty low level code and abstracting it  
into  
>  an efficient, high level, reusable, extensible, framework.  I hope the next  
guy  
>  who tells me this is an easy task goes to work for NeXT!! 

I wonder if they're using C++ or "enhancing" Obj-C to write DriverKit.  C++ is  
perfect for that type (very performance sensitive, well-defined, unchanging  
i/f) of job, though I'm not sure what exactly DriverKit is.  Now I'm curious!

Wouldn't it be great if NeXT started seriously supporting ObjC++ because of  
their work creating DriverKit!

2 cents (as always ;-),

= Joe =
-- 

Joe Grace <JGrace@TetraSoft.com>              (e-mail and NeXT-Mail accepted.)
#include <StandardDisclaimer.h>
TetraSoft International      Business and Personal Productivity NeXTSTEP Apps.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.advocacy
From: randall@redfish.atmos.colostate.edu (Dave Randall)
Subject: HP-NeXT connection
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 20:49:15 GMT
Reply-To: sh.atmos.colostate.edu (Dave Randall)
Organization: Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO  80523

OK, rumor time, from a source who should know -- but no guarantees.

HP will get out of the workstation operating system business. HP-Vue, or  
whatever they call it, is going away. In its place, HP will offer both NeXTSTEP  
and Windows NT, and possibly also Solaris. My source made Solaris sound iffy,  
the other two not iffy. Announcement within a few weeks. Products some time  
down the road -- maybe 6 months from now.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.advocacy
From: pfkeb@kaon.SLAC.Stanford.EDU (Paul F. Kunz)
Subject: Re: NS486 delay not technical?
Organization: Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
	<1993Jan18.024315.14064@godel.questor.wimsey.bc.ca>
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 16:10:27 GMT


> In article <SCOTT.93Jan15113325@nic.gac.edu> scott@nic.gac.edu (Scott  
> Hess) writes:

>> Well, don't let the apparent length of time lull you.  I saw
>> NeXTSTEP1.0 running on '386 equipment in _1990_.  I very much doubt
>> that NS'486 is being held up for purely technical reasons.  There's
>> gotta be a rat in there somewhere ...

   The NeXTSTEP running on '386 in 1990 must have been IBM's port on
a PS/2 running AIX as the OS.   Not quite the same thing as the
current NeXTSTEP486 product.

--
Paul F. Kunz	pfkeb@slac.stanford.edu (NeXT mail ok)
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Stanford University
Voice: (415) 926-2884   (NeXT) Fax: (415) 926-3587
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.advocacy
From: rpomeroy@aunext1.amd.com (Ron Pomeroy x(Coop))
Subject: Re: NS486 delay not technical?
Reply-To: rpomeroy@aunext1.amd.com
Organization: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.; Austin, Texas
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 93 15:38:56 GMT

In article <PFKEB.93Jan26081024@kaon.SLAC.Stanford.EDU>  
pfkeb@kaon.SLAC.Stanford.EDU (Paul F. Kunz) writes:
>>
>>> In article <SCOTT.93Jan15113325@nic.gac.edu> scott@nic.gac.edu (Scott  
>>> Hess) writes:
>>
>>>> Well, don't let the apparent length of time lull you.  I saw
>>>> NeXTSTEP1.0 running on '386 equipment in _1990_.  I very much doubt
>>>> that NS'486 is being held up for purely technical reasons.  There's
>>>> gotta be a rat in there somewhere ...
>>

Your probably right but...

Designing a *resuable* OO framework for DriverKit has got to be challenging.   
Hell, just getting all the info needed for an anlysis phase sounds painful.   
You're talking about taking some pretty low level code and abstracting it into  
an efficient, high level, reusable, extensible, framework.  I hope the next guy  
who tells me this is an easy task goes to work for NeXT!! 


--
Ronald Pomeroy		"The Internet is just a giant petri dish"
Advanced Micro Devices
CAM Applications Group
rpomeroy@aunext1.amd.com (NeXTmail preferred)
From: lemke@verbosa.ncd.com (David Lemke)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.advocacy
Subject: Re: A CPU on Every Desk?
Date: 27 Jan 93 01:14:49 GMT
Organization: Network Computing Devices

In article <1993Jan22.184704.20171@adobe.com>, byer@adobe.com (Scott Byer) writes:
|> Mark Turner writes
|> 
|> > I've come to the conclusion that a "CPU on every desk" is not the
|> > right solution for many businesses. As soon as a $20,000 workstation
|> > lands on a corporate desk, it needs more memory and more hard disk
|> > ... and the CPU itself it out-of-date and too slow in just a few
|> > months.
|> 
|> > The X terminals can be replaced, or upgraded, without much fuss
|> > and little expense.  And it's simply more efficient to do system
|> > administration, and manage most of the hardware problems, centrally.
|> 
|> Your question is making the implicit assumption that the above is
|> true.  Having watched X terminals in action, and seeing what they
|> do to a network, I don't believe that it's a valid assumption.
|> 
|> X terminals aren't any cheaper than a well-equipped 486, which can
|> then run Unix and X native, with lots of disk, and not swap over
|> the network.  A full Unix machine can also be easier to administer
|> in a complex, shifting environment.  (Not easy, mind you, just
|> easier than a X terminal.) Especially if using NetInfo.

the two previous paragraphs are interesting claims.  i disagree (surprise)
as do our customers and apparently much of the marketplace. a major
reason people buy X terminals is because they're relatively trivial to
administer, and getting easier all the time.

|> Also, CPUs are a cheap resource compared to networks.  This will
|> remain true for at least 5-10 years.  And X terminals simply _swamp_
|> the network.

this has often been asserted, but no one has yet backed it up with any
data.  several companies (including NCD, DEC and HP) have done studies
that show that X terminals have little effect on network traffic, even
with 'network killers' like Frame.

|> It just isn't effective to be running more than a
|> few on a single subnet.  And for responsiveness, you need an adequate
|> amount of peak computing power.  That ends up being just about one
|> CPU per terminal in the end.  That's in addition to the high-power
|> processor in the X terminal.

again, i disagree.  here at NCD we have >100 people all sharing a single
Solbourne.  i've watched tests with over 60 terminals pounding on a
single Solbourne with no loss in response.  we have customers doing
similar things.

[ and our low-end mono terminals use the 'high powered' 68000.  not all
our customers need the latest CPU. ]

|> --
|> Scott Byer                             NeXTMail: byer@mv.us.adobe.com
|> Adobe Systems Incorporated               These are *my* opinions, and  
|> 1585 Charleston Road, P.O. Box 7900        do not necessarily reflect
|> Mountain View, CA 94039-7900             the opinions of my employer.
|> ---------------------------------------------------------------------

speaking for myself,
-- 
Dave Lemke				lemke@ncd.com
Network Computing Devices, Inc.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.advocacy
From: nathan@laplace.csb.yale.edu (Nathan F. Janette)
Subject: Re: What I don't understand...(WAS: THE ONLY CHOICE)
Reply-To: nathan@laplace.csb.yale.edu (Nathan F. Janette)
Organization: Yale University, Department of Computer Science, New Haven, CT
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1993 06:12:07 GMT

In article <26JAN199320564151@aardvark.ucs.uoknor.edu>  
mwelch@aardvark.ucs.uoknor.edu (WELCH,MICHAEL) writes:
> 
>   Why doesn't Steve poke his head in over at Silicon Graphics? They
> haven't spurned him in any way have they? I'd personally like to
> see a NeXT/Pixar/Adobe/Silicon Graphics team. 

Many folks who use both NeXT and SGI machines have wondered
this as well.  Some folks from SGI have hinted that talks may
have taken place in the past.  However, SGI (sadly) seems
fairly committed to the current path of their OS, which is
more a SYSV than a BSD style system.  It would be difficult to
imagine them tossing away their OS after they just revamped
it a year ago.

Sigh.  NeXTstep on our Crimson/Elan would be more than
awesome. 

--
Nathan Janette
PPP link from hilbert.csb.yale.edu

Please reply to: nathan@laplace.csb.yale.edu (NeXT)

Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.advocacy
From: vesely@next.heart.rri.uwo.ca (Ivan Vesely)
Subject: Re: A CPU on Every Desk?
Organization: University of Western Ontario
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 17:30:27 GMT

In article <1jp3mmINNnpo@cs.widener.edu> jefferis@manas.engr.widener.edu  
(Raymond P Jefferis) writes:
> In article <1993Jan21.160050.4997@tse.uucp> markt@tse.uucp (Mark Turner)  
> asks:
> > Is it possible to hang X terminals off a NeXT server and use the native  
> > NeXT desktop from the terminals?
> > Comments .... ?
> What is a "NeXT server?

Hey, give the guy a break! What Raymond probably means, is can you have one  
NeXT with a bunch of graphics terminals hanging off it displaying the standard  
NeXT interface?  Sort of like using X to do remote displays, but use the NeXT  
interface instead of the useless X interface.  

So, all you experts out there, what would it take to write an analogue to X,  
except make it look and work like NeXTStep?

--
Ivan Vesely, Electrical Engineering and Medical Biophysics
University of Western Ontario,     vesely@next.heart.rri.uwo.ca
From: daugher@cs.tamu.edu(Walter C. Daugherity)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.advocacy
Subject: Re: PA RISC or Power PC?
Date: 27 Jan 1993 05:24:50 GMT
Organization: Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
Distribution: world
Reply-To: daugher@cs.tamu.edu
NNTP-Posting-Host: cachet.cs.tamu.edu
Keywords: NeXT on a Sparc clone

In article <C124My.97y@world.std.com> kaya@world.std.com (Kaya Bekiroglu)  
writes:
| In an effort to direct the subject from that *other* thread,
| what's up with NeXT RISC hardware?
| 
| First it was the Moto 88110, it's a nice chip, but unfortunately
| dead.  Then I heard that HP architecture would be coming into play.
| 
| But, since they're now talking about liscensing NeXTSTEP to HP,
| PA RISC for NeXT's own hardware seems counterproductive.
| 
| So NeXT is going with PowerPC?  Is this chip line better than the
| 88k?  I got the impression that it isn't, but I could be wrong.
| 
| NeXT thing you know, NeXT will be talking with CompuAdd to get
| a SPARC clone.
| 
| -- 
| Kaya Bekiroglu
| kaya@world.std.com
| [If you're looking for something witty and amusing here, then
| congratulations, you've just found it]

Actually that's not a bad idea, given the fear and loathing between NeXT and  
Sun proper :-).
--
Walter C. Daugherity			Internet, NeXTmail: daugher@cs.tamu.edu
Texas A & M University			uucp: uunet!cs.tamu.edu!daugher
College Station, TX 77843-3112		BITNET: DAUGHER@TAMVENUS
	---Not an official document of Texas A&M---
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.advocacy
From: anderson@macc.wisc.edu (Jess Anderson)
Subject: Re: Sighting in Digital News & Reviews 1/18/93
Organization: Madison Academic Computing Center, UW-Madison
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 93 18:51:43 GMT

In article <1993Jan21.021752.4591@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu>
lmccullo@nyx.cs.du.edu (Michael McCulloch) writes:

>Hmm. 'Object-orientated.' Lotta knowledge in the field I would say... It 
>sorta goes along with the ad for 'NeXTDimention' memory in the Computer
>Shopper. Although the latter has more connotations. :-)

Now lemme see here -- NeXTdementia would be color envy among
us mono cube owners, or depressive psychosis among those who
*have* color cubes but are still expecting a working
compression chip, or people who are *really* *mad* the
prices of ND cards have remained totally ridiculous, or
those who simply can't accept the level of fear to be faced
when their bosses find out they've invested in a dead-end
hardware track, or ...

-- 
[Jess Anderson <> Madison Academic Computing Center <> University of Wisconsin]
[Internet: anderson@macc.wisc.edu <-best, UUCP:{}!uwvax!macc.wisc.edu!anderson]
[Room 3130 <> 1210 West Dayton Street / Madison WI 53706 <> Phone 608/262-5888]
[---------> Discrimination, Bigotry, and Hate are not Family Values <---------]
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.advocacy
From: gaia@wam.umd.edu (L. Anathea Brooks)
Subject: Draw = MacWrite?
Organization: University of Maryland, College Park
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 12:44:37 GMT

If Draw is modeled after MacWrite, where's the marquee selection tool
or the lasso? They'd be very useful...



Brooks


Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.advocacy
From: abell@netcom.com (Steven T. Abell)
Subject: Re: A CPU on Every Desk?
Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest)
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1993 20:44:29 GMT

Oh, how short people's memories are!

One of the biggest drawbacks of centralized service is not technical,
but political. It is a *real* drag to have to rely upon the guys down the hall
or over in the other building who support the CPUs and disk drives. They
invariably develop policies that are forced down the throats of their client
departments, whether they are appropriate for all departments or not. They
have to! They're only human, there are limitations on what they can retain,
and they're only able to be flexible up to a point and still maintain their
sanity. When people complain about this, they become aloof and arrogant,
sometimes *intentionally* cloaking their reasons and procedures in mystery
just so that others will give up and leave them alone so that they can get
some work done.

Distributed systems are certainly inefficient in some ways (so is a market
economy), but flexibility is a tremendous advantage that outweighs these
inefficiencies.

While backing up distributed systems is indeed a problem, there is another
side to the reliability coin. A few years back, I worked in a department
where we wrote our code on a central server, but compiled it on PCs, which
was the delivery vehicle (the PCs were networked to the central server).
*Everybody* had a PC on his desk. And *every* time you compiled, the source
for the *entire* project was updated on your disk. Inefficient? You bet.
But a couple of days before our biggest trade show, the server failed
catastrophically. A worse disaster could not have been planned. But, even
though we didn't get our server back up until several days *after* the
show, we only lost a few hours of development time. Within minutes after
the failure, we were collecting the most recent files from the PCs. These
were then checked in and out on floppies via Sneakernet. We got to the show
in one piece.

The real wins in distributed systems don't show up on lists of capital
equipment costs. They show up in the ability to deal with special needs
and dire situations.

Central systems are the ever-so-efficient Soviet Union.
Distributed systems are inefficient America.
Take your pick.

Steve abell@netcom.com
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.hardware
From: eoswald@iiic.ethz.ch (Erich Oswald)
Subject: Cheap Printer for NeXTStation
Summary: How can I connect printers not contained in NeXT distribution
Organization: Dept. Informatik, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, CH
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 16:24:29 GMT

I was wondering how I can connect a cheap (non-Postscript) printer to
my NeXTStation. I was thinking about a HP Deskjet-500 (or similar printer).
Is this possible? If yes, how? What other HW/SW do I need besides
NeXTStep 3.0?

Please reply by email (eoswald@iiic.ethz.ch) or on this newsgroup.

(BTW I'm sorry if this has been asked before. In order to avoid bandwidth
waste, just tell me where I can find a FAQ-list ;-))

Thanks,
Erich Oswald

(sorry, no .sig, I'm giving it up)


Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.hardware
From: ph@pencom.com (Patrick Hester)
Subject: Toshiba MK538FB Summary
Reply-To: ph@pencom.com
Organization: Pencom Systems Incorporated
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 16:26:57 GMT

A little while back I posted asking about the Toshiba MK538FB drive. Lots  
of people responded and here is a summary.

The Toshiba MK538FB is a 3-1/2" half height drive. Capacity is 1.2gig and
access speed is 12ms. Transfer rate is 10mb/s and it has a 512k cache.
The drive comes with a 5 year warrantee.

Overall people had good things to say about this drive. In fact there
was only one serious negative, but I'll get to that in a bit.

As far as I know everyone who responded used the drive in a slab. One
poster mentioned that side of the slab was a little warm but that they
didn't have any real heat problems. Supposedly the smaller drives can
have a bit of a heat problem. This would probably be a factor if you
are installing the disk in a slab which doesn't get much ventilation.

People say it's faster than their old drives, but I suppose that
is relative.

It was mentioned several times that the drive does a noisy seek
but that they didn't mind after a day or so. It is reportedly quiet
when at idle.

One responder had a minor problem lining up the mounting screws but
managed to get it mounted using two screws instead of all four. And
One person said an external SCSI terminator is required when installing
as an internal drive.

As for the major negative report, one responder wrote about a posting
describing vibration problems with two of the drives. I seem to recall
this post, but I am confused because the header said Toshiba and the
post itself said Fujitsu (which I've heard alot of bad about). Anyway
I was unable to reach either the guy with the original problem or the
one who relayed the information to me due to bogus net connectivity.
So if you are rainman!brian@ms.uky.edu, please clear this up... Did you
have problems with Toshiba or Fujitsu?

Did I buy one? I was THIS CLOSE...
Then someone mentioned a Quantum drive in the same range. So I am going
to do the same question/response/summary thing again and then choose
between the two.

Thanks to all who responded, especially Royce Howland, Ted Shuck, John
Mastrolia, John Todd and Larry Blische. And apologies to Edmund Ronald
who wanted my old drive, cause I'm keeping it.

--
Patrick Hester   ph@pencom.com   (212) 513-7777   NeXT Mail OK   =8(\/\)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.hardware
From: pjr@splash.Princeton.EDU (Peter Rayner)
Subject: looking for graphics tablets
Originator: news@nimaster
Organization: Princeton University
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 20:57:04 GMT

I need sources and costs for Next-compatible graphics tablets.  It's
important to note that this is for one of the original mono slabs so
that none of the generic solutions for the new hardware will work.  
Please reply directly to avoid clutter, I'll summarize if there's interest.
Thanks in advance
-- 
Peter Rayner Program in Oceanic           | "All right, I retract, the 
and Atmospheric Sciences Princeton        | Honourable Member does *not* have
University                                | the brains of a monkey." F.Daly
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.hardware,comp.sys.next.misc
From: zmonster@athena.mit.edu (Eric M Hermanson)
Subject: NeXTSTEP 486 Specifications
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1993 04:00:54 GMT

There have been a lot of questions regarding hardware specs for NeXTSTEP 486.
Here is a paraphrased summary of what is basically needed to run NeXTSTEP 486.
These specifications are preliminary, and will most likely change as additional
hardware is supported.  For specific configurations, consult the NeXTSTEP 486
hardware compatibility guide, or contact NeXT.


CPU - 486SX, 486DX, 486 DX/2.  Future 80x86 chips will be supported.  Need
an ISA or EISA expansion bus.  486DX and 486DX/2 are reccommended processors.

Hard Drive Minimum - 120MB user environment, 330MB developer environment

Graphics - Both Greyscale (2bit) and color (16bit) will be supported.  For
2 bit color (4 shades of grey) most VESA or SVGA cards will do.  Popular
SVGA cards from vendors like Orchid, ATI, Paradise, Video Seven and Compaq
will work.  Supported resolutions: 1024*768, 800*600, 640*480.  The RAM
requirements for 2bit systems is 8MB minimum, 12MB recommended.

16bit color systems - High quality graphics adapters needed.  Like Intel 
JAWS (such as Dell's Processor Direct Graphics), Chips and Technologies
Wingine, and certain Local Bus Graphics adapters.  Depending on size of
available VRAM (video RAM) resolutoins of 800*600, 1024*768, 1120*832, 
1280*1024 will be supported.  RAM requirements for 16 bit color are 16 MB
minimum, 24MB recommended.

Both IDE and SCSI interfaces will be supported.

Microsoft and Logitec compatible bus, PS/2 port and Serial mice are supported.
Certain graphics tablets will be supported.

Postscript level I and II printers will be suupported, connected through 
either the serial or parallel port.  Non postscript printers will be supported
in a future release.

ISA and EISA based networking adaptors will be supported including Ethernet
and Token ring cards from vendors such as SMC, intel, and 3Com.  A networking
card is optional.

Sound Support - Sound Blaster or Pro Audio Spectrum cards are optional.

ISDN support - supported through ISA add on cards.

FAX modems and fax modem cards will be supported


Eric Hermanson
NeXT Campus Consultant at MIT


Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.hardware
From: zmonster@athena.mit.edu (Eric M Hermanson)
Subject: New Trinitron Color Monitors
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1993 19:50:21 GMT

Will someone please comment on the improved clarity (if any) of the new
Sony Trinitron Color monitors over the old Fimi 17 inch monitors?  Is there
THAT big of a difference to warrant selling an old color system and buying
a new one with Trinitron monitor?

How does the new Trinitron compare to the existing 21 inch monitors?

Eric
From: neuss@igd.fhg.de (Christian Neuss )
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.hardware
Subject: Re: The Clock on the NeXT
Date: 21 Jan 93 15:53:23 GMT

Say folx..

Recently somebody posted a way of resetting your NeXT timer by using some
other machine on the network as a time server. Unfortunately, I deleted
that message (*blush*). Can somebody repost or mail it to me?

Thanx a bunch,
Chris
/*
 *  Christian Neuss  %  neuss@igd.fhg.de  %  ..in the humdrum
 */
From: sears@tree.egr.uh.edu (Paul S. Sears)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.hardware
Subject: Re: Which machine can use these simms
Date: 28 Jan 1993 18:58:18 GMT
Organization: University of Houston
Reply-To: sears@uh.edu
NNTP-Posting-Host: thanatos.egr.uh.edu

In article <1993Jan28.000233.6159@noose.ecn.purdue.edu>  
chienhua@simplex.ecn.purdue.edu (Chien-Hua Hsiao) writes:
#
#Please help me to identify which machine can use following simms.
#
#+---------------------------------+
#| +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ |
#| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
#| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
#| +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ |
#||||||||||||||||| |||||||||||||||||
#+----------------^----------------+
#       |                  |
#    32 pins            32 pins
#
#These simms have 8 chips on it. The code on the chip is  AAA1M300J-08
#                                                         NMBS    9130
#Are the simms 1Mx8-80NS.
#
#Thanks in advance. Please e-mail me.
#
#
#Chien-Hua Hsiao
#chienhua@ecn.purdue.edu

Theses seem to be 64pin SIMMS that can be used in the Mac IIfx (I was told  
by a Mac dealer the other day that the fx simms need to have a notch in  
the center...)

--
Paul S. Sears                *  sears@uh.edu (NeXT Mail OK)
The University of Houston    *  suggestions@tree.egr.uh.edu (NeXT
Engineering Computing Center *  comments, complaints, questions)
NeXT System Administration   *  DoD#1967 '83 NightHawk 650SC 
          >>> SSI Diving Certification #755020059 <<<
"Programming is like sex: One mistake and you support it a lifetime."