Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!wuarchive!swbatl!texbell!ficc!peter From: peter@ficc.ferranti.com (Peter da Silva) Newsgroups: comp.unix.i386 Subject: Re: V.4 & Mach Update Message-ID: <6B2598C@xds13.ferranti.com> Date: 8 Aug 90 18:09:29 GMT References: <1990Jul31.013258.14239@nstar.uucp> <1990Aug4.224303.18882@intek01.uucp> <1990Aug7.222716.7957@ico.isc.com> Reply-To: peter@ficc.ferranti.com (Peter da Silva) Organization: Xenix Support, FICC Lines: 62 In article <1990Aug7.222716.7957@ico.isc.com> rcd@ico.isc.com (Dick Dunn) writes: > How much do you think a 386 Mach or other system with a BSD-like inter- > face ought to cost? What's the max price that would make sense? This is two questions: How much do you think a 386 Mach ought to cost? If it's reliable and compatible with System V/386, probably on the order of $1000 (50% more than ESIX, anyway) on up. Otherwise, about the same. The max price would be 10% or so more than V.4, so $2200 or so. How much do you think a 386 system with a BSD-like interface ought to cost? About half a 386 system with a System V interface, unless it's *in addition* to the System V stuff or has an equivalently good system admin package. Standard BSD system administration hasn't improved any since V7 days. > Would you pay more for a BSDish system than for Sys V? About how much, > as a percentage? -50% > Would you pay more (or less?:-) for Mach, _per_se_? 50% more. > Why? (e.g., "cause I like it" or portability or particular features...) It's an overall better design, and allows real asynchronous I/O instead of polled I/O like in BSD and System V. > How would something like this stack up against a V.4 system? It'd still be better, even if it didn't include X or TCP. Mach is just a better design. > How much difference should there be for 1-2 user vs unlimited? (That > sort of asks what you'd use it for and how valuable a many-user setup > might be?) I wouldn't consider a real 1-2 user license (i.e., one you couldn't trivially ignore) worth getting. > What are the things that would have to be there?... A real multi-threaded UNIX on top of Mach... none of this "UNIX as an application program" stuff. Decent system admin tools. For work, TCP is essential. For home, I wouldn't care. > ought to be there?... Loadable personality modules, so if you don't care about full System V or BSD bugs... I mean features... you don't have to burn RAM on them. > would be nice? Man pages, ksh, X, TCP. -- Peter da Silva. `-_-' +1 713 274 5180. 'U`