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From: dlb5404@tamuts.tamu.edu (Daryl Biberdorf)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: more junk about the A3000UX
Summary: one can *never* have too *much* memory!
Message-ID: <12268@helios.TAMU.EDU>
Date: 16 Feb 91 22:39:22 GMT
References: <1991Feb9.032953.14709@mintaka.lcs.mit.edu> <1519@pdxgate.UUCP> <8651@gollum.twg.com>
Sender: usenet@helios.TAMU.EDU
Organization: Texas A&M University
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In article <8651@gollum.twg.com> david@twg.com (David S. Herron) writes:
>
>The RAM & disk controllers make as much sense for an A3000 as for
>a NeXTstation.  The A3000 can have ~18Megs of memory on motherboard,
>and has an SCSI-II interface on motherboard.  18 megs is smaller,
>yes, but is far more than sufficient for both AmigaDOS and Unix
>use.  32 Megs would be overkill, even (I expect) on a NeXT.

*Any* machine that uses virtual memory can benefit from having more
RAM.  More RAM means fewer disk accesses which means better performance.
While I think 18 MB is a reasonable limit for motherboard expansion
on the 3000, one should *never* think that 18 MB is the most anyone will
ever need or use.  At my last co-op assignment, the quickest 'fix' for
bad system performance (on a UNIX box) was 'install another 8 MB of
RAM'.  This was usually faster and cheaper than re-writing whatever
application was inefficient.

>when its clicked upon kinda disappears.  The worst part of using
>DP is that the programmers probably will have to program in
>Postscript.  Yes it's possible to program in Postscript, but its
>"harder" because it's RPN and we're all taught to do our math in
>INFIX.

Not if you use a *real* calculator (one made by Hewlett-Packard)! 8-)
(Disclaimer: I fought RPN for 4 years before (just recently) I got sick
of doing matrix manipulations by hand or on my (slow) TI-59 and
bought a brand new HP-42S this last Tuesday...  And *I* *like* it!)

>My decision to get an A3000 with Unix (ASAP) is because
>
>-- I want to run & work with X.  NeXT's dont' use X as their native
>   windowing system so all those gee-whizzy interface building
>   things are useless to me.

While agree with your point about NeXT not running X (although X is
kind of icky in the amount of effort it takes to get results),
NeXT's Interface Builder is *cool*.  How much of your time do you
really spend on getting the interface built?  Too much.

-Daryl Biberdorf,  dlb5404@tamuts.tamu.edu OR @rigel.tamu.edu (note new uid)
 Texas A&M University