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From: davide@cs.qmw.ac.uk (David Edmondson)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: A/UX 2.0: Truly Amazing
Message-ID: <2173@sequent.cs.qmw.ac.uk>
Date: 2 May 90 17:08:50 GMT
References: <1576@mountn.dec.com> <11881@portia.Stanford.EDU>
Reply-To: davide@cs.qmw.ac.uk (David Edmondson)
Organization: Computer Science Dept, QMW, University of London, UK.
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In article <11881@portia.Stanford.EDU> kocks@jessica.stanford.edu (Peter Kocks) writes:
>I use unix (on a dec machine) and a mac all the time and I don't see
>why people would want to use Mac AUX as a substitute for the Mac.  The
>only people with any real reason for using unix are programmers.
>-PK
>kocks@jessica.stanford.edu

We are a computer science department and use A/UX for teaching
since it lets you use Mac Applications as well as unix, this
does not disagree with what you have said.  However the
experience of also looking after a lab of macs with a mix of
MacOS and A/UX would incline me suggest that anybody who looks
after publicly accessible Macs should consider using A/UX2 when
it becomes available.  A/UX gives you proper access control so
your Geography Mac lab doesn't get filled with Engineers
printing project reports and throwing away your carefully
installed graphical database to install their CAD package.
Using our "blow" package we can re-install the disk image every
night to ensure that the machines are clean and up to date.  We
also have the facility to control who can use which machines
and when and to throw them off (after a suitable warning) if
they outstay their welcome. File serving can be done
automatically, you don't even have to call up AppleShare.

I'm sure many or all of these things can be done under MacOS
but unix puts them all together  rather than having to rely on
half a dozen proprietory or shareware utilities.

The Mac, like all personal computers, is designed to sit on
someone's desk and be cossetted. When they are put in a shared
environment they get filled with trash and generally abused.
In answer to your question people might well want to use A/UX
as a substiute for MacOS (even if they are not programming or
doing other unixy things) if:

a: They have to administrate shared labs of macs.
b: They want to use a shared lab of macs which are consistent
   and available.

Dave
-- 
David Edmondson                 ARPA: davide@cs.qmw.ac.uk
Dept of Computer Science        JANET:davide@uk.ac.qmw.cs
Queen Mary & Westfield College  UUCP: davide@qmw-cs.UUCP
Mile End Road                   AppleLink: UK0087
LONDON, E1 4NS, UK              Tel:  01-975 5250 (Fax: 01-980 6533)