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From: rbraun@spdcc.COM (Rich Braun)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.novell
Subject: Re: NFS Support in NetWare
Message-ID: <6807@spdcc.SPDCC.COM>
Date: 9 Mar 91 16:36:46 GMT
Organization: Kronos Inc., Waltham, Mass.
Lines: 36

I wrote:
>>Is the Novell solution also going to offer a DOS _client_ NFS package?

From Novell, donp@na.excelan.com (don provan) writes:
>Novell provides a DOS *NetWare* client with their server.  What would
>be the point of also offering a DOS NFS client in the same package?  I
>dare say the NetWare client provides much better connectivity with the
>NetWare server than an NFS client could.

You seem to be in your own little DOS world.  What would be the point?
My friend, interoperability's the point.  If you add an NFS server to
your Netware servers, Unix users can then get access to files stored
on them.  But DOS users are still stuck with accessing only files on
the Novell servers, unless Portable Netware is installed on the Unix
systems.

It's basically half-a-loaf.  On the one hand, you're encouraging
companies to add TCP/IP Unix systems to their Novell networks, and on the
other you're not providing comparable access for DOS users.

But my argument was basically to dramatize the difference in the
functionality/price ratio between the Novell NFS NLM and NFS products
from Unix vendors, which always include an NFS client with the NFS
server.  Novell need not get into this business because NFS client
packages for DOS are available from other vendors.

All of this actually surprises me, because I'm used to running into
high prices in the Unix marketplace.  For the DOS marketplace to offer
higher prices than corresponding Unix products, this is new to me.

I stand corrected on the filenaming argument I posed earlier, and will
have to withhold any technical criticism of the product until I've
seen it, which probably won't be for another 6 months due to the fact
that my company is unlikely to shell out the $4-5 grand until then.

-rich