Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!zaphod!magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu!tgingric
From: tgingric@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu (Tyler S Gingrich)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: Re: unbundling Allegro Lisp
Message-ID: <1991Jan15.184016.13265@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu>
Date: 15 Jan 91 18:40:16 GMT
References: <1991Jan15.131222.5625@cs.ucla.edu> <11258@helios.TAMU.EDU>
Sender: news@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu
Organization: The Ohio State University
Lines: 36
Nntp-Posting-Host: right.magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu

In article <11258@helios.TAMU.EDU> andrewd@cs.tamu.edu (Andrew Ted Duchowski) writes:
>In article <1991Jan15.131222.5625@cs.ucla.edu> lange@lanai.cs.ucla.edu (Trent Lange) writes:
>> [..]
>>You must have missed the large set of complaints when NeXT decided to
>>unbundle Allegro CommonLisp from the new machines, hurting a lot of
>>potential academic users.  :-(
>>
>>- Trent Lange
>
>What ?!  This is the first of this I've heard on comp.sys.next, and
>I've been reading it for a while now.  As I have ordered my
>NeXT cube in Dec., I'd like to know whether I'll be getting 
>Lisp or not.  When does this unbundling take effect?  
>

If you ordered an OLD 030 cube from Businessland with the version 1.0 software
you will receive Allegro CommonLisp (since it is part of Software Release 1.0).

If you ordered a NEW 040 cube from Businessland, NeXT, or your local campus
computer/book store then you will NOT receive ACL with the computer because
ACL is NOT included in Software Release 2.0.  The Sybase database suffers the
same fate.  

I, for one, appreciate NeXT unbundling some software which can't be given away
for free.  I don't know how much ACL or Sybase would have added to the price
of the new NeXTStations/Cubes but it must have been "more than a few dollars"
or NeXT would have left them in the basic package.  

Personally, I prefer to spend my $ on software I need NOT on software you
need/want/desire.  Since I have no need for ACL or Sybase I'm glad they were
dropped.  I'm sure that you would not be happy if NeXT jacked up the price of
the Stations/Cubes so they could include a MIDI sequencer and music notation 
package.  I'll be spending the money I saved on this package, why don't you
spend yours on ACL and Joe X can spend his on whatever he wants.

Tyler