Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!shadooby!samsung!usc!apple!agate!ucbvax!poseur.jpl.nasa.gov!earle
From: earle@poseur.jpl.nasa.gov (Greg Earle - Sun JPL on-site Software Support)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.news
Subject: Re: Another machine for your student
Message-ID: <8911070618.AA03595@poseur.jpl.nasa.gov>
Date: 8 Nov 89 01:25:36 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 41

>1.  I could get a Sparcstation1 from Sun, to run off the disk on my
>machine.  Unfortunately, although Sparcstations use the same chip, they
>apparently use a different memory management scheme at the moment and so
>I'd have to duplicate a huge amount of Unix code to be able to run it.

Whatever gives you that idea?  To add a SPARCstation-1 as a diskless client
of a Sun-4, one merely installs the SunOS 4.0.3c `/usr' files (Sun-4c_Usr)
on top of the existing Sun-4 binaries (they are upwardly compatible), and
then one installs the Sun-4c specific `kvm' binaries (the ones that have to
deal with that `different memory management scheme' and - more importantly -
the other kernel architecture differences, like the S-bus) into a separate
directory that the SPARCstation-1 mounts.  Those separate files take up a
whole whopping 2.085 Mbytes of disk space.  Combine that with the 7 Mb root
filesystem for the client, and the default 14+ Mbyte swap space, and you'll
have used up less than 25 Mbytes of disk space to serve the diskless Sun-4/60.

>Besides, these things are pretty expensive.

Naahhh.  A diskless SPARCstation-1, especially monochrome, is hardly expensive.
Since you work for a government institute, NCI probably gets the standard Sun
Government discount, which means SPARCstation-1's cost almost nothing.  JPL
is buying them hand over fist these days, which is helping to make my life
more complicated (see below) :^)

The cost of an NCD X Terminal is hardly negligible, either.  And it sounds
like the ImageSoft software that you speak of will only allow previewing of
PostScript documents and figures in an X window; this is something that you
can get for free these days.  On the other hand, if you were to run Sun's
OpenWindows (X11/NeWS) software on a diskless SPARCstation-1, you get the
power of NeWS and the ability to use NeWS' PostScript capabilities in your
X11 windows.

Disclaimer: I work for Sun.  Of course I'm biased.  But your reason #1 has
	    no basis in fact, and I don't think that your reason #2 has
	    sufficient capability for what you really want for your student.
	    (But these are still my opinions only; I do not speak for Sun.)

	- Greg Earle
	  Sun Microsystems, Inc. - JPL on-site Software Support
	  earle@poseur.JPL.NASA.GOV	(Direct)
	  earle@Sun.COM			(Indirect)