Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!crdgw1!sixhub!davidsen
From: davidsen@sixhub.UUCP (Wm E. Davidsen Jr)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.i386
Subject: Re: Berkeley Utilities and other Questions.
Keywords: UNIX/BSD/XENIX/AT&T_V5/ESIX/ISC/UNIX-AIX/UNIX-Intel
Message-ID: <1110@sixhub.UUCP>
Date: 7 Jun 90 01:56:14 GMT
References: <3636@rodan.acs.syr.edu>
Reply-To: davidsen@sixhub.UUCP (bill davidsen)
Distribution: na
Organization: *IX Public Access UNIX, Schenectady NY
Lines: 98

In article <3636@rodan.acs.syr.edu> avilla@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Aldo Villa) writes:

| I have read of the following clones:

  minix and coherent are clones. Your list is a list of UNIX versions.

  All of these are based on AT&T V.3.2 and are pretty similar except for
the user interface and sysadmin. The commands and stuff are all very close.

| 1) UNIX system V release 3.2 by AT&T
| 3) ESIX by Everest (sp?)
| 4) XENIX from SCO (Santa Cruz Operation) 
| 5) UNIX from SCO (Santa Cruz Operation) 
| 6) Open Desktop from SCO (Santa Cruz Operation) 
| 9) UNIX from Interactive
| 10) UNIX-Intel (previously Bell-UNIX) release 3.2 (??) 



  This is (I believe based on V.2 with some graphical interface stuff
added. It is said to run Macintosh software as well as UNIX (haven't
tried).

| 12) UNIX-AUX for Mac computers



  These are based on V.4, and I don't *think* they are out of beta test.

| 2) UNIX system V release 4.01 by AT&T
| 11) UNIX-Intel (previously Bell-UNIX) release 4.0.(??) 



  This is based on V.1, with LOTS of changes and BSD-isms. Some versions
have X-windows included.

| 7) UNIX-AIX from IBM



  This is a mix of SYSV and BSD features, I believe based on a BSD
kernel, with Sun's windows and X included.

| 8) UNIX-SUN 4.01/2 from Sun MicroSystems Corporation



  Based on BSD, for Digital computers. HP's is called HP-UX. And
Digital sells a VAX based system they make with a CISC CPU, and
something called a VAX which has a RISC MIPS CPU.

| 13) UNIX-ULTRIX (for Hewlett-Packard micros?)



| COULD SOMEBODY, PLEASE, GIVE ME AN ADVICE.

  Make up your mind what you want, and then buy the closest one.

| I want at least the most plane-jane of the Berkeley utilities (vi-editor,
| C-shell, job-controls) and not so much more. I want an efficient and fast
| DOS-emulator to run some common DOS software when convenience and necessity
| will arise. Finally, I want a really wysiwyg PostScript previewer in order to 
| avoid having to go mad and waste time and toner and paper printing out
| everything many times: even more times when there are tbl-formatted tables and
| eqn-formatted equations. So, ........

  That can be done in various ways with SCO UNIX, SCO ODT, ISC UNIX,
ESIX, and AIX. The postscript comes from public domain tools for X,
which you can get for these systems.

| 4) IS IT TOO MUCH TO PRETEND TO HAVE A PRODUCT COMPLETELY (or almost)
| DEBUGGED?  

| So many UNIX-clones, ...., and so trivial problems still around .............
| 
| Can I hope to find something already cleaned-up?

  MS-DOS is not clean, VM is not clean, VMS is not clean, even CP/M is
not clean. There are no bug free operating systems. All of the above are
reliable enough for production use in most cases.

  Spend some time looking at the info on these, the vendors will be glad
to send you literature, and they all have ads. Then when you get down to
a few questions ask them here, but don't expect someone to write a
summary. I've got several weeks invested in comparing ISC, ODT, and V.4,
and I'm still struggling with weighting the advantages and trying to
decide if I evaluate what's in my hands or what I know I'll have in a
few months.

  Good luck, but if you want a useful answer be prepared to do some
research.
-- 
bill davidsen - davidsen@sixhub.uucp (uunet!crdgw1!sixhub!davidsen)
    sysop *IX BBS and Public Access UNIX
    moderator of comp.binaries.ibm.pc and 80386 mailing list
"Stupidity, like virtue, is its own reward" -me