Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!deimos.cis.ksu.edu!cveg!uafhp!f0057
From: f0057@uafhp.uucp (James E. Ward)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.att
Subject: What does one get into when buying a Unix PC?
Keywords: 7300 purchase?
Message-ID: <2677@cveg.uucp>
Date: 28 Jun 89 14:27:52 GMT
Sender: netnews@cveg.uucp
Organization: College of Engineering, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
Lines: 31



Hello out there.  I've just read every article available to me in this
newsgroup.  I have an Atari 520 ST and really lust after Unix.  I see
that there are 7300 Unix-pc machines available for under $1000 complete
with Unix System V.  I am considering purchasing one, but would like to
get some feel for what I am getting into before I leap.  I understand
that I may soon outgrow .5 meg RAM and 20 meg of disk space, and that
the machine is slow.  How slow is slow?  My definition of slow: the original
IBM PC.  Is it that slow?

Also, an Internet node is a local call away.  What kind of connectivity to
Usenet and the rest of the world can I get with a 2400 baud modem?  Am I
too ignorant to get into this machine?

Should I buy the latest release of the os, or get the discounted previous
release?

I have been a user on a Unix system for several years, and I once had an
IBM PC/AT with a Xenix partition.  I set it up and administered it, allowed
buds to dial-up and login.  Have I much more or less to accomplish with this
machine?

Does the GNU stuff work easily?  (I am a GNU emacs fanatic!)

Just testing the water before I discover I have drowned or am swimming.  Any
help or comments will be appreciated.
#  James E. Ward, The Planet Earth, Ltd.    |                                 #
#  ...uunet!harris.cis.ksu.edu!f0057@uafhp  |  Those who speak, do not know.  #
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#  Telenet:  f0057@130.184.7.103            |                       Lao Tsu   #