Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!samsung!uunet!math.fu-berlin.de!unido!uni-koeln!snert.ikp!se
From: se@snert.ikp (Stefan Esser)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.hp
Subject: Re: SNAKE CLUSTER(?)
Message-ID: <1991May21.180803.121893@rrz.uni-koeln.de>
Date: 21 May 91 18:08:03 GMT
References: <1991Apr15.204425.8682@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> <5570641@hpfcdc.HP.COM>
Sender: news@rrz.uni-koeln.de (Usenet News System)
Organization: Regional Computing Center, University of Cologne, F. R. Germany
Lines: 44

In article <5570641@hpfcdc.HP.COM>, perry@hpfcdc.HP.COM (Perry Scott) writes:

|> Given there is a non-zero cost for implementing and supporting these
|> features, are you willing to pay more for an HP system with partitions
|> on it ?  In a commodities market like Un*x, a vendor implements those

There are other companies, that include features into their products,
not to sell them more expencive, but to sell more of them.

|> features with highest ROI.  That means either high returns in terms of
|> leveraging sales and/or low investment in terms of R&D and support.
|> Apparently, partitions for workstations didn't make the cut.

And, well you know, you can cut your cost to about zero, 
if you stop producing (and selling and supporting ...) anything.   
( 1/2 :-) )

We bought a 9000/835 two years ago, and this machine was so disappointing, 
that I couldn't imagine to buy any HP computer again!

Reasons where low performance (because of the HP-IB hard discs) and
lots of problems with omissions from the BSD derived kernel.
(Things like variable disc partitions, kernel variables like lotsfree, desfree,
 missing adjtime(), renice(), and lots more.)
From these omissions resulted a lot of problems in my daily work as sysadmin.
(I don't want to go into detail, but I had A LOT of unnecessary work !)
And some features were promised but never delivered  ...
(There is a rumour from time to time, that SCSI will become available for the 
HP 9000/835 ... After all these years, I don't know if I am interested anymore ...)
And so we didn't even look on HP products, when we bought any computers 
thereafter. (And we got what we expected, none of the problems we had 
with the 9000/835!)

NOW, with the 9000/7xx, there is a very fast machine. HP-UX looks very 
interesting. IF we knew, that something has changed in the way HP treats 
'features with non-zero cost', we might be interested in HP products again.

BTW: making SAM work with non-HP terminals (as was just announced in 
another article) is another small step into the right direction ...

Stefan
-- 
 Stefan Esser, Institute of Nuclear Physics, University of Cologne, W. Germany
 se@ikp.Uni-Koeln.DE                                            [134.95.192.9]