Xref: utzoo comp.unix.xenix:8916 comp.unix.i386:1659
Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uunet!metaware!ken
From: ken@metaware.metaware.com (ken)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.xenix,comp.unix.i386
Subject: Re: Experience with SCO UNIX 5.3
Message-ID: <157@metaware.metaware.com>
Date: 8 Dec 89 17:29:24 GMT
References: <522@mwtech.UUCP>
Reply-To: ken@metaware.UUCP (ken)
Followup-To: comp.unix.xenix
Organization: Metaware Incorporated, Santa Cruz, CA
Lines: 38

In article <522@mwtech.UUCP> walter@mwtech.UUCP (Walter Mecky) writes:
>In the xenix-group there are some more or less hot debates to SCO in
>general and SCO UNIX 5.3 in special. I'll have to decide:
>
>	Should I buy 386/ix or SCO UNIX 5.3  ?
>
>My question to all of you who have experience with the SCO UNIX and/or
>ISC 386/ix:
>1. Does SCO UNIX have so many bugs as noted here ?

I would have to say no. I found a few bugs that were very fatal for me. The
floating point emulation did not work at all. Like AT&T, they give you 2
emulators with the Microsoft as the default one. The MS emulator is faster but
less accurate and is missing support for many instructions. The AT&T emulator
is completely broken, it fail immeadiately. The other fatal problem were the
debuggers. I could not get code view to work. It only understands x.out files
and if you switched virtual screens while running it, it would lock up that
virtual console. Adb also had some bugs in it. I would like to mention that I
think there installation process really stinks.

>2. Is there an online manual in SCO UNIX 5.3 ?

Yes.

>3. How is the support from SCO ?

I got good support but I am on some special developer list and thet are very
close to me. At one point, The head of developer relations dopped of some fixes
on the way home!

>4. How do SCO UNIX and ISC 386/ix compare (documentation, support, bugs,
>   device drivers, performance especially to disk IO) ?

I wish I had a recent ISC so I could find out myself.

>5. What about software: X11, TCP/IP, VP/IX for *SCO UNIX* ?

-Ken