Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!sdd.hp.com!ucsd!sdcc6!sdbio2!cleland
From: cleland@sdbio2.ucsd.edu (Thomas Cleland)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: A3000UX competition
Message-ID: <14934@sdcc6.ucsd.edu>
Date: 14 Dec 90 02:02:31 GMT
References: <453@mathlab.math.ufl.EDU> <93075@aerospace.AERO.ORG> <86470@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu> <14659@sdcc6.ucsd.edu> <4136.275af61c@cc.helsinki.fi> <14712@sdcc6.ucsd.edu> <4e6afc49.20b6d@apollo.HP.COM> <90346.222605JKT100@psuvm.psu.edu>
Sender: news@sdcc6.ucsd.edu
Reply-To: cleland@sdbio2.ucsd.edu (Thomas Cleland)
Distribution: na
Organization: University of California, San Diego
Lines: 56
Nntp-Posting-Host: sdbio2.ucsd.edu

In article <90346.222605JKT100@psuvm.psu.edu> JKT100@psuvm.psu.edu (JKT) writes:
>>>IBM's AIX, Apple's A/UX, and NeXT are not embracing this [SysVR4]
>>>standard.  Workstation vendors are.
>>
>>I couldn't resist interjecting: _some_ workstation vendors are.
>>As you note, IBM (RS/6000) isn't.  HP/Apollo isn't.  DEC (to the
>>best of my knowledge) isn't.
>
>Anyone else notice that this isn't the first time Commodore has
>adopted an impending "standard" only to be screwed when nobody
>else adopted it?  It sure happened with the IFF "standard"...
>:-(
>
You speak wisdom, but I think it won't happen this time.  The
recognized leader in desktop workstations, Sun, and SPARC clone
makers in the workstation market, not to mention AT&T.  I don't
know how fast the academic VAXes and the like will port over.
Ah, sentence fragment... "Sun...et al...-->" are supporting
SVR4.  OSF/Motif is a power play by IBM et al, but if I hear
correctly there will be an OSF/Motif clone process which one
can run under SVR4  (old rumor).  

I think it's pretty clear that SVR4 doesn't have anything to
worry about in terms of competition from A/UX or AIX.  Precious
little from Mach/NeXTStep, though they'll be a factor on NeXTs
and some RISC/6000s.  OSF/Motif will be the one to look out for.

But read the MSDOS press that we hate...  WIth the same blind
"of course this is the only _real_ operating system" chutzpah
that they use to speak about MS-DOS, they speak of SVR4.
OSF/Motif, for better or worse, is given a token mention and
the same irritating dismissal that Apple and Commodore have
traditionally received at the hands of the MSDOS press.  
IF the gossip I hear is true:

OSF/Motif runs with a Mach kernel and has several advantages
   over SVR4 in terms of pure performance

these opinions which I restate above are typical of the
mainstream press

DEC and HP/Apollo are making SVR4 OSs as a hedge


... then I think we as AMiga devotees have had the tables turned
on us--supporting ;the mainstream simply because it's the
mainstream.  Don't get me wrong--that's important in the
workstation market like it isn't so much in the PC market  (esp.
for a smaller vendor like CBM), it's just amusing.

>                                                            Kurt
-- 
   //  / Thom Cleland                       / It is easier        /
  //  / tcleland@ucsd.edu                  / to get forgiveness  /
\X/  / ASOCC * Amiga Users' Group at UCSD / than permission...  /
     \____________________________________\____________________/