From: larry@gator.rn.com (Larry Snyder)
Subject: Re: TBBS/TDBS/UNIX - Price of a BBS
Organization: The Gator Public Access Unix Site - 219-289-3745
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1992 22:10:25 GMT

rjus@uonline.com (ren_just) writes:

>Larry, could you please provide a price for a UNIX system to do the following:
> 
>Run up to 16 users
>Allow the use of a database system of some sort
>Be inexpensive to maintain
>Be inexpensive to set-up
>Be inexpensive to upgrade

The cost of the UNIX (as low as $495) and using free software.

The user also gets:
nfs, tcp-ip, support for unlimited users, support for the execution
of UNIX, XENIX and DOS applications by any user connected to the system

full development is also included

>Using TBBS/TDBS which would meet the above criteria, the software costs
>would be as follows:

>DOS -            $ 49.95
>TBBS 16 user -    895.00
>TDBS 16 user -    995.00
>QEMM 386           59.95
>                 -------
>                 1999.99
>                 =======


hmmm -- 1999.99 -- a tad bit expensive

check this out:

     o New Pricing -- A new price schedule is available for Dell UNIX 2.2, 
       complete system available for as little as $495 US.  (Reference the
       end of this document for complete pricing)
 
     o Standards -- This Dell issue corresponds to USL's version 4.0 of
       UNIX System V Release 4.  This also carries the X/Open XPG3 Brand,
       indicating conformance to the Common Application Environment.  This is 
       defined by X/Open, the organization that defines world wide standards 
       for application portability.  Dell UNIX V.4 is also Posix.1 compliant.
       Dell UNIX 2.2 has been certified to be compatible with the latest
       version 6.0.34 of ORACLE for Intel UNIX from Oracle Corporation.
  
     o Quality -- This product includes fixes for all significant problems 
       that appeared in earlier versions of Dell UNIX V.4, plus additional 
       corrections provided by USL based on the experience of other companies 
       with their own V.4 implementations.  A large number of enhancements 
       requested by customers have been added.
  
     o Stability -- This is the fourth external issue of Dell UNIX V.4 and 
       shows the improvements in reliability and stability you would expect 
       of a maturing product. 
 
     o Enhanced Graphics -- Much of the development work concentrated on 
       exploiting the full capabilities of our advanced graphical components.  
       The X11R5 package includes support for Dell DGX (Local Bus video) at 
       resolutions up to 1280x1024x256, ATI Ultra/Vantage 8514/A adapters
       at resolution up to 1024x768x256, VGA up to 1024x768x256, and the Dell 
       GPX adapter at up to 1024x768x256.
  
     o Ease of Use -- This issue of Dell UNIX V.4 is easier to install and 
       easier to maintain than its predecessors, thanks to improvements in 
       the installation of the system.  There is continued and enhanced 
       support for network installation, which makes it easier for larger 
       sites to install Dell UNIX V.4 on multiple machines by using a network 
       connection instead of loading each system separately from tape.
  
     o Utilities -- Dell has added many contributed tools and utilities, built 
       by Dell from freely available sources and provided to our users on an 
       as-is basis.  The new issue includes TeX, afio, Annex terminal server 
       software, bison, cnews, elm, emacs, f2c, fm, gcc-1, gcc-2, gdb, gmake, 
       C-kermit, less, mh, mmdf, nn, nntp, patch, pathalias, perl4, rcs, rn, 
       sc, shar, tcsh, top, microemacs, uumail, xntp, and zmodem.  Complete 
       source for these packages (as shipped) is provided on the installation
       tape.
 
     o Improved Compatibility -- We have improved the capability of Dell UNIX 
       V.4 to run most applications developed for the SCO and SVR3.2 
       environments.  This gives our users access to an even larger portion 
       of the software available for i386-based UNIX in addition to the 
       advanced features required to run new applications being developed for 
       UNIX System V.4.

     o Networking -- Several new network adapter device drivers have been 
       added.  Currently supported adapters include the Western Digital 8- 
       and 16-bit (8003xx, 8013xx), IBM 16/4 Token Ring Adapter, WD Token 
       Ring, Intel Imx586, and 3Com 3C503.
  
     o Support -- Dell now includes 90 days of UNIX Technical Support at no 
       extra charge when purchased with Dell hardware.  This is in addition 
       to the full year of free hardware support that is standard on all Dell 
       systems.  This helps assure that the customer will get off to a good 
       start with the new system, and gives Dell the opportunity to 
       demonstrate the benefits of having our ongoing technical assistance.
 
       Customers who wish to run Dell UNIX V.4 on other vendor's hardware
       can take the product on an as-is basis.  However, they need to
       understand that we are only prepared to deal with hardware problems 
       concerning Dell hardware.  We will accept software problem reports from 
       any customer, with or without a support contract.

     o Additional Information -- For more information about the Dell UNIX
       product line, send email to info@dell.com or support@dell.com.  Dell
       also maintains an internet gateway with anonymous ftp sites at 
       dell1.dell.com and dell2.dell.com.  To subscribe to the Dell UNIX
       email mailing list, send a blank mail message with your email address
       on the subject line to maillist@dell.com.
                                           
                                             
    Packaging
    ---------
  
    Limited (2-user) and unlimited (multiuser) versions are sold separately, 
    A license upgrade can be purchased later to move from 2-user to unlimited
    user if your requirements change.
  
    The package consists of the following components:
                                                               
                    Boot diskettes (3.5" and 5.25")   
                    Installation tape (250MB QIC and 2GB DAT)
                    Release Notes                              
                    Working With Dell UNIX Guide               
                                                               
    The distribution includes the following packages:
                                                                
                    DELL UNIX System V Release 4
                    (Includes base system, TCP/IP, NFS, SCDE (Software
                     Development Kit), Text Processing Tools, etc.)
 		    X11R5 X-Window System
                    OSF/Motif 1.1.4 
 		    Open Look 4i
                    XView 3
                    (Includes run-time and development environments for
                      Motif, Open Look, and XView)
                    Locus PC Interface 3.0.0
                    Locus DOS Merge 2.2
                    Contributed Software
                    A Demonstration Version of FrameMaker 3.0
                                                                
    The installation tape can be installed using the Dell 250MB tape drive,
    320/525MB SCSI drives, or the Dell SCSI DAT drive.  A minimum of 8MB of 
    memory is required for Dell UNIX System V.4.
  
    At least 100MB (plus swap space) of disk space is required to install 
    the base configuration of Dell UNIX V.4. For installing the full customer
    kit, we recommend a minimum of 320MB, which accommodates all of the 
    provided software packages and leaves room to load additional customer 
    applications.  Of course, application requirements can vary and should be 
    taken into account when configuring any particular system.
  
             
 
    Update Kit
    ----------
 
    For customers who already have Dell UNIX System V.4 and wish to
    upgrade to the new version, an update kit is offered that to allow
    owners of any earlier version of Dell UNIX System V.4 to upgrade to
    the new version 2.2.
  
    The update kit is available at no charge to customers with current
    UNIX Software Support contracts.  
 
                 
    Pricing (US Dollars)
    --------------------
             
    UNIX SYSTEM V.4 - FACTORY INSTALLED
 
          450-1032  Dell UNIX V.4 Limited User (Dual Media)     $ 495
          450-1033  Dell UNIX V.4,Unlimited User (Dual Media)     795
  
    UNIX SYSTEM V.4 - CUSTOMER INSTALLED
  
          450-1034  Dell UNIX V.4,Limited User (Dual Media)     $ 995
          450-1035  Dell UNIX V.4,Unlimited User (Dual Media)    1295
 
    UNIX SYSTEM V.4 - Upgrade from previous 2.x release
 
 	  450-1037  Dell UNIX V.4,Update Kit (Dual Media)       $ 129
 
 
    Customers that have previously received a multiuser license upgrade
    will be able to re-use their multiuser license upgrade disks with the
    new release. 

    For United States customers only, the additional Crypt Utilities diskette
    must be upgraded as well.  Please do not attempt to install the previous
    version of this onto Dell UNIX 2.2.
  
 
    For additional information on this and any other Dell products, 
    you may contact the nearest Dell business office at one of the 
    numbers below:

    	USA	       1-800-426-5150
        Belgium        32-2-466-91-99
   	Canada         1-416-764-4200
        Czechoslovakia 42-2-807-418
    	Finland        358-0-701-3533
    	France         331-3060-6800
    	Germany        49-6103-701-0
        Holland        31-20-6812666
        Ireland        353-61-304091
    	Italy          39-2-26909-1
        Norway         47-2-125711
        Poland         48-2-635-5601
    	Spain          34-1-3290269
    	Sweden         46-7607-1350
        Switzerland    22-788-4000
	UK	       44-344-860-456


    For additional information on ORACLE for Dell UNIX, please contact
    Oracle at 1-800-345-3267 in the USA, or your local Oracle business
    office outside the United States.


- - - - - - - Technical Details - - - - - - - 

Dell UNIX System V Release 4 - Technical Specifications

Base operating system features
  File System
       SunOS Virtual File System (VFS)
         types supported:
            ufs  - compatible with Berkeley Fast File System
            s5   - System V file system, 1K or 2K block size
            xenix - Xenix file system
            nfs  - SunOS Network File System
            rfs  - AT&T Remote File Sharing
            bfs  - stand-alone boot file system
            proc - processes (for debuggers)
            specfs - special files (devices)
            fifofs - FIFOs
            fdfs - open file descriptors
       Symbolic links
       Long file names (up to 255 characters) in ufs file systems
       Disk quotas (Optional, ufs file systems)
  Virtual Memory
       Adapted from BSD/SunOS
       Memory-mapped files (single level storage)
       Copy-on-write capability
       Flexible paging (swap) space
            Swap partition
            Ordinary files can be used for swap space
  Program Management
       ELF - Extensible Linking Format
       Shared library support
       Dynamic linking support
            Lazy binding (link on demand)
            Link at exec-time
       Binary Compatibility
            SVR3 COFF module format
            Xenix 386 a.out format
            Xenix 286 a.out format
            DOS binaries (with Merge feature)
  Process management
       User-controlled process scheduling
       Fixed or dynamic process priority
            Traditional timesharing process scheduler
            Fixed priority real time process scheduler
       Preemptable kernel
       Dynamically-tunable parameters
            Kernel data structures grow/shrink as required
       BSD Resource Limits (rlimit)
       High-resolution timing services
            POSIX interfaces
            BSD interfaces
       Concurrent Groups
  Interprocess Communication
       Networkable and local-only services
       Compatibility interfaces for BSD and Xenix
       Services include:
            Message queues
            Named pipes
            Named STREAMS
            Pipes
            Remote procedure call (RPC)
            Semaphores (SVR3 and Xenix)
            Shared Memory (SVR3 and Xenix)
            Transport Layer Interface (TLI)
            BSD sockets
  STREAMS Mechanism
       Bidirectional message transfer between processes and devices
       Ability to stack protocol modules
       Autopush of protocol modules
       Supports both poll and BSD select system calls
       Named STREAMS capability
  Signal Handling
       Complete POSIX interface (derived from BSD)
       Complete SVR3.0 interface (sigset)
       Complete pre-SVR3.0 interface (signal)
       - all three interfaces may be mixed in a single program
       Restartable system calls
       POSIX features
            Manipulation of a set of signals
            Ability to block/unblock signals
            Ability to examine pending signals
            Support job control
  Command Shells
       Bourne shell (sh, with job control)
       Korn shell (ksh, with job control)
       C shell, (csh, tcsh)
  Character Mode User Interface
       Multiple virtual terminals
       termcap and terminfo support
       Extended Terminal Interface (ETI)
            Superset of curses capabilities
            High-level control for ASCII terminals
       Frame Access Control Environment (FACE)
            Display language interpreter (FMLI)
            Support for forms and menus
Internationalization and Localization
  Locale support
  Multi-byte character support
  International time and date formats
  International numeric and currency formats
  Alternate collating sequences
  Message database support
  Message Management tools
Compliance with Industry Standards
  Compatibility
       Binary compatibility with Xenix, System V/386 programs
       Source code compatibility with SunOS/BSD programs
       Binary compatibilty with MS-DOS programs (Merge feature)
  AT&T System V Interface Definition (SVID3)
  IEEE POSIX 1003.1
  X/Open Portability Guide, Issue 3 (XPG3)
  ANSI X3J11 C programming language standard
  Intel Application Binary Interface (iABI)
Data Interchange Formats
  File systems
       BSD (ufs)
       Xenix
       System V
  cpio
  tar
Networking Features
  STREAMS and TLI interfaces
  uucp
  TCP/IP
       DARPA protocols (TCP/IP/UDP)
       BSD r* commands (rlogin, rcp, rexec, rsh, etc.)
  Distributed File Systems
       NFS - SunOS Network File System
       RFS - AT&T Remote File Sharing
  Remote Procedure Call (RPC) and eXternal Data Representation (XDR)
  SL/IP - TCP/IP for serial lines
  Mail interfaces
       sendmail
       mh
       elm
       mmdf
Software Development System
  ANSI C compiler
  Standard tools, including:
       as
       awk
       lex
       yacc
       make
       sccs
       sdb - enhanced for process file system
  BSD and public domain tools, including:
       TeX
       afio
       bison
       cnews
       elm
       emacs
       f2c
       fm
       gcc-1
       gcc-2
       gdb
       kermit
       less
       microemacs
       nn
       nntp
       patch
       pathalias
       perl 
       rcs
       rn
       sc
       shar   
       top
       uumail
       xntp
       zmodem
BSD Text Processing Tools, including:
  nroff
  troff
  eqn, neqn
  tbl
  style
  diction
  spell
On-line manual pages
Graphical User Interfaces
  X Window System (X11R5)
  OSF/Motif GUI (Motif 1.1.4)
  Open Look GUI 
  Xview 3.0 libraries (SunView migration tools)
  GKS Libraries from Purdue
  Portable Bitmap Utilities
  Other window managers
       twm
       uwm



HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS

Dell Unix System V Release 4.0 is designed to run on
industry-standard computer systems with the following attributes:

o    Intel(reg) i386(TM), i386 SX, i486 SX, i486 microprocessor.

o    PC/AT-style Industry-Standard Architecture (ISA) input/output (I/O) bus 
     or Extended Industry-Standard Architecture (EISA) I/O bus.

o    At least 8 megabytes (MB) of random-access memory (RAM).

o    At least one diskette drive, 5.25" 1.2-MB or 3.5" 1.44-MB capacity.

o    A hard-disk drive.  Supported drive types are IDE, ESDI, and SCSI.  
     At least 200 MB of disk space is required to install the complete system 
     including all optional packages and swap space.

     The amount of swap space required varies depending on the amount of 
     RAM and the type of programs being used.

o    A 150- or 250-MB Wangtek or SCSI tape drive that uses quarter-inch 
     cartridges or a 4mm SCSI DAT cartridge tape drive for installing the 
     software and for backing up data.

o    A video graphics array (VGA) adapter and monitor, either monochrome or 
     color, are required for the host system.



-- 
Larry Snyder                                    internet: larry@gator.rn.com
keeper of the Gator                                  uucp: uunet!gator!larry