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From: knrgroup@garnet.berkeley.edu (Raymond group)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc
Subject: Re: Not another NeXT defector???!!!
Message-ID: <1990Nov9.230811.20858@agate.berkeley.edu>
Date: 9 Nov 90 23:08:11 GMT
References: <1990Nov7.230807.17914@agate.berkeley.edu> <911@casbah.acns.nwu.edu> <2924@bridge2.ESD.3Com.COM>
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ngg@bridge2.ESD.3Com.COM (Norman Goodyear) writes:
>No matter what you do, eventually somewhere along the line if you "own"
>the machine, you're going to have to get down & dirty in the OS (Unix)
>of the NeXT.

So, have you owned a NeXT?  (and I mean for personal use and not as a node
in a network)  I ask because several people have voiced their opinions
based on their experience with "Unix boxes" other than the NeXT.  The NeXT
is not a typical Unix box. It hides Unix from the user, whereas other
Unix boxes just put windows around Unix command-lines for the most part.

Do you ever have to mess with the guts of a Mac OS?  If so, is this any
easier than messing with the guts of Unix?  Most users don't have to do
any of this.  If something gets really messed up with the OS, you just
reload the OS or get some professional software package or an expert to
take care of the problem for you.  This is true on the Mac as well as the
NeXT.  I've been a Mac user for 4 years, but I wouldn't have a clue what
to do if the Mac OS got screwed up.  I don't even know how to access the
Mac OS.  On the other hand, accessing the NeXT's OS is trivial.

As for adding hard disks and other devices for the NeXT, it is plug-and-play
if the device was made for the NeXT or for 4.3BSD (for the most part).
Likewise, for the Mac.

It is true that most NeXT owners WILL use Unix. However, this is because 
they'll want to do things that you wouldn't be able to do on a Mac or 
because they want to do things without having to buy commerical software
as you would have to do with a Mac (of course, there is pirating, but I
won't go into that).