Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!nwnexus!amc-gw!john
From: john@amc-gw.amc.com (John Sambrook)
Newsgroups: comp.os.aos
Subject: Re: DG/UX on an MV/20000???
Message-ID: <5108@amc-gw.amc.com>
Date: 24 Jan 91 21:23:22 GMT
References: <28117.279dbffe@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu>
Reply-To: john@amc-gw.amc.com (John Sambrook)
Organization: Applied Microsystems, Redmond, WA
Lines: 52

In article <28117.279dbffe@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu> brownrigg@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu writes:
>(this isn't exactly the right news group, but its as close as they come...)
>
>Can anybody share their experiences with DG/UX running under the MV
>architecture?  It was indicated by the local people that Unix and the MVs
>were a very poor match, and that performance was atrociously slow.  I hope
>this isn't true!  What would be peculair about the MV arch. that would
>promote this?
>

When I was working at the University of Washington we ran both AOS/VS and
DG/UX (and, at one point, MV/UX, ugh.) on an MV/10000.  Nobody noticed any
appreciable speed differences.  The only real differences when running
DG/UX were:

    1.  For the first year, every time you called the SSC in Atlanta,
	the conversation went something like this:

	US:  "We're having a problem with our operating system ...."
	SSC: "Is EXEC running?"
	US:  "This is Unix.  We don't need no stinkin' EXEC."
	SSC: "You're nuts.  Everyone's got an EXEC."
        US:  "Read my lips.  Dee-Gee-You-Ecks, not Emm-Vee-You-Ecks!"
	SSC: "Oh ..., let me transfer you ....  click-click-hummmmm"

    2.  At least up until I left, the IAC code under DG/UX was never 
	very reliable.

    3.  The product was generally at least a year and a half behind 
	the state of the BSD and/or Sun worlds, at least in terms of 
	networking support.  E.g., no support for nameservers, etc.

    4.  Everyone was glad to be using UNIX instead of AOS/VS.

    5.  The C compiler was absolutely wonderful compared to the garden
	variety UNIX compilers of the time.  I only ever discovered one
	bug, which was fixed in the next revision.

I'd like to suppose that all of these issues have been resolved since
I left the University about a year ago.  But I doubt it.  I also doubt
that DG can afford to spend anything on development of DG/UX for the 
MV line.  Why would anyone buy an MV these days? 

Seriously, DG had a lot of good people, but the timing was about five 
years too late.

Only my opinions, mind you!

-- 
John Sambrook                             DNS: john@amc.com
Applied Microsystems Corporation	 UUCP: amc-gw!john
Redmond, Washington  98073               Dial: (206) 882-2000 ext. 630