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From: jhg@Apple.COM (James Glanville)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.comm
Subject: Re: DEC LanWORKS for Macintosh (Was Re: MacX available ?)
Message-ID: <44963@apple.Apple.COM>
Date: 19 Sep 90 21:52:41 GMT
References: <15433@shlump.nac.dec.com> <90262.101538SKG102@psuvm.psu.edu>
Distribution: comp
Organization: Apple Computer Inc., Cupertino, CA
Lines: 43

In article <90262.101538SKG102@psuvm.psu.edu> SKG102@psuvm.psu.edu writes:
>The DEC LanWorks server portion also contains the DAL (CL/1) server and
>AppleTalk for Vms. The price quoted in our last DECDirect catalog was $440.
>Compare this to the Apple price for just these two pieces of $5000. The
>question is simple; which would you but?  LanWorks also requires you to
>purchase LanWorks for VMS which has a price of $666. The DAL client for the
>Mac sells for $695 from Apple and for $295 from DEC.

LanWORKS is a good deal, especially as far as DAL is concerned.  That's the
whole point of the product.  We (Apple and DEC) want to offer people 
great software products that let them make the most of DEC and Apple
computers.  Of course, the LanWORKS version of DAL only provides server
support for Rdb.  The APDA version of DAL Server for VAX/VMS provides
support for Rdb, Ingres, Informix, Oracle, and Sybase.  Plus, the 
documentation that come from APDA for the the Server and Client products
are more in-depth than the DAL documentation included in LanWORKS.

> The only question I have
>here is that according to DEC their Mac client is only a paper license and 
>the software is on the TK50 or Magtape depending on which one you order, since
>the Mac reads none of these, how do you get the software? You have to already
>have a way to transfer files to your Mac from the VAX to get the connectivity
>tools that are supposed to do this. Silly, isn't it?  :-)

All of the Macintosh software in LanWORKS (including the DAL client) lives
on the Appleshare volume running under VAX/VMS.  From your Mac, you use the 
Macintosh installer disk that comes with the LanWORKS product.  This installer,
among other things, will install the DAL client software, the Commtoolbox
software, and the Appleshare client software.  After you reboot your Mac,
you can the access any of the files stored on the Appleshare volume on the Vax.
(All of this assumes that you Mac is on an Appletalk network tied into the
Appletalk for VMS 3.0 running on the Vax).

I guess this connectivy stuff is pretty silly. Especially when it works!


- James Glanville
 sometimes DAL Project Leader and CL/1 guru
 Apple Computer, Inc.

jhg@apple.com

Disclaimer nonesense:  Apple and I both say things.  They're often different.