Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!uwm.edu!lll-winken!taurus!aldebaran!schweige
From: schweige@aldebaran.cs.nps.navy.mil (Jeffrey M. Schweiger)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re: NeXT software size
Message-ID: <2202@aldebaran.cs.nps.navy.mil>
Date: 4 May 91 23:57:33 GMT
References: <0o9Gv_t+1@cs.psu.edu> <RL2D21w164w@undrground.UUCP> <4d7Gypu=1@cs.psu.edu>
Reply-To: schweige@cs.nps.navy.mil (Jeffrey M. Schweiger)
Organization: Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey CA
Lines: 53

In article <4d7Gypu=1@cs.psu.edu> melling@cs.psu.edu (Michael D Mellinger) writes:
>
>(Mark Gardner) writes:
>
>   You know, I am getting DAMN sick of your snide little comments that the 
>   only quality Amiga software is represented by games.  But I'll let that 
>   go.
>
>Well, most people don't buy the Amiga for the DTP packages,
>spreadsheets, word processors, or database managers.

Valid comment, but for the most part they could.  
	DTP - Saxon Publisher doesn't seem too bad.
	spreadsheet - very valid point, but I'm glad Lotus isn't in
		      the Amiga market.  Their corporate policies turn
		      more people off than Commodore's    1/2 :-)
        word processors - If you don't like WordPerfect 4.1.12, ProWrite 3.0
		          looks pretty good.  This particular market is
			  mature enough so that we have multiple choices.
	database managers - dBMan V (a dBase III+ clone with improvements)
			    and SuperBasePro 4 (compatible with the MS-DOS
			    version) seem to be covering this niche

>The NeXT is a workstation.  Most things are an order of magnitude
>larger.  The RAM used and needed, the disk space, the speed(not and
>order of magnitude, but faster).  You're arguments about the size of
>the program are stupid.  The software performs well on the NeXT and
>that's what matters.  The guy I responded to thought that it was
>better not to have the software than have software that took up too
>much disk space.  Well, he is wrong.  Even if Improv(pick favorite
>program) was 5 times as large, it is better to have it than not have
>it.
>
>-Mike

The Amiga, for the most part is not a workstation.  It is a personal computer
with the power of a workstation.  The 3000UX is a workstation, and seems to
be addressing a particular market need for low-end standardized machines.
Standardization and portability may not seem that important too you, but
many others would disagree.

By the way, saying that "You're arguments about the size of the program are
stupid" doesn't seem appropriate coming from a CS graduate student.  It may
not be important to you, but it is an important design issue.  Unless you
intend to stay in academia forever, it's something to keep in mind (and that
is not to say it's not important in academia, also).

Jeff Schweiger
-- 
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