Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site ulysses.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!ggs From: ggs@ulysses.UUCP (Griff Smith) Newsgroups: net.followup,net.unix Subject: Re: Re: ksh availability Message-ID: <10021@ulysses.UUCP> Date: Thu, 14-Mar-85 20:38:06 EST Article-I.D.: ulysses.10021 Posted: Thu Mar 14 20:38:06 1985 Date-Received: Fri, 15-Mar-85 05:02:42 EST References: <10005@ulysses.UUCP> <15757@mgweed.UUCP> <162@sesame.UUCP> <567@rlgvax.UUCP>, <12517@gatech.UUCP> Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill Lines: 57 Xref: watmath net.followup:4656 net.unix:3934 >>> Well, I don't know about you, but it only cost me $800 for UNIX, including >>> the csh. Now they want to sell me the "ksh" for another $2000. No thanks. >>> This is one piece of software that for the price deserves to be pirated! . . >>Point 1: (reasonable rebuttal)... . . >Counterpoint: >Educational institutions pay $800 to get source licenses for Unix Sys V. >Another $150 (?) will get a Berkeley distribution tape. Do you think many >of us are going to pay $2000 for ksh? No! Nor are many of us going >to shell out the bucks that AT&T is charging for the new uucp stuff. >I don't know about other places, but we can't afford it here. > >I guess many educational institutions, especially the public ones, will >never find out if the Korn shell is all that great, or if Honey DanBer >uucp is the niftiest thing since sliced yogurt. Whether that will >affect the future market for other AT&T goodies is beyond my ability >to forsee. I suppose the "software for the people" contingent will rise in righteous indignation, but... Assuming that the current academic price for System V is still $800, we are still giving it away. If your school can't afford normal commercial software prices for at least some key utilities, it must be a shoestring operation. When I was at the University of Pittsburgh, it was "business as usual" to shell out about $5000/year for a software maintenance contract; we had to pay $10000 for the "virtual memory" upgrade for our TOPS-10 operating systems. Any useful software product usually cost us at least $1000, and some were in the $5000 to $10000 range. A large product such as DISSPLA/TEL-A-GRAF had a special educational rate of "only" $20000; the commercial rate was at least $80000. The Korn shell is a good product! I used csh for a year; then Dave finally added BSD (i. e. real) job control and command edit mode to ksh. I switched, and haven't looked back. Given the improvements it can add to your computing environment, the price is low by commercial standards. Credits: UNIX is a trademark of my employer. TOPS-10 is probably still a trademark of Digital Equipment Corporation. DISSPLA and TEL-A-GRAF (or some variation of those spellings) are trademarks of ISSCO. Disclaimer: Prices are guesses, opinions are mine. -- Griff Smith AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill Phone: (201) 582-7736 Internet: ggs@ulysses.uucp UUCP: ulysses!ggs ( {allegra|ihnp4}!ulysses!ggs )