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From: grr@unirot.UUCP (George Robbins)
Newsgroups: net.micro.atari,net.micro.amiga
Subject: Re: unix on the 520st [really unix rumors]
Message-ID: <263@unirot.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 27-Dec-85 21:44:43 EST
Article-I.D.: unirot.263
Posted: Fri Dec 27 21:44:43 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 28-Dec-85 13:25:40 EST
References: <2671@sunybcs.uucp> <2664@sunybcs.uucp>
Reply-To: grr@unirot.UUCP (George Robbins)
Distribution: net
Organization: The Soup Kitchen, Piscataway NJ
Lines: 45
Xref: linus net.micro.atari:2063 net.micro.amiga:5194
Summary: Misleading Infoworld Article

In article <2664@sunybcs.UUCP> ugjohna@gort.UUCP (John Arrasjid) writes:
>I just read in infoworld that AT&T have signed a deal with Atari to release
>the 520ST under their label with the UNIX V  operating system. I have also
>heard numerous rumours that this machine will come standard with monochrome,
>20meg hard drive, 1 meg onboard, and will sell for $1000. Can any of you
>people who work at AT&T either confirm or deny any or all of this info. If not,
>how about a clue????
>
>John Arrasjid                   SUNY/Buffalo Computer Science



	Well, this little rumor was enough to make any Amigoid shiver in their
boots, so I decided that I had better try to find a copy of Infoworld and see
what the article said.  Well, it's on page 3 of the December 23 Issue, titled
'Atari, AT&T Reportedly in Deal for Low-End Unix Machines'.  I would urge any
interested persons to read it for themselves, since I don't want any Infoworld
lawyers on my case.

	The article states the AT&T has agreed to purchase ST's for use as low-
cost *TERMINALS*, not unix machines.  I would be the first to admit that the
ST would make a great cheap (color?) graphics terminal.  The article also states
that the ST's would be specially modified, I suspect by putting in special ROM's
that leave out the OS functions and include, perhaps, BLIT terminal emulation.

	The article then resurrects some *OLD* Atari statements.  One is about
some unix based *applications* software that was supposedly going to be ported
to the ST.  The other relates Atari's announcement back at Comdex that they had
purchased a Unix Source License.

	This doesn't mean that Atari is going to planning to port unix to the
520ST, it merely means that someone at Atari was able to justify the $$$ to buy
a source license as part of their overall development effort.  It also doesn't
make them the only or even the first company to buy a System V license.

	I've previously rebutted some postings that you couldn't port unix to
the ST, but that doesn't mean that Atari will do it, and this article does not
announce any such thing.


[ disclaimer: full time unix hacker / part time unofficial Commodore shill ]
-- 
George Robbins			uucp:	...!ihnp4!tapa!grr
P.O. Box 177				...!caip!unirot!grr
Lincoln U, PA  19352	[Any ideas herein are not responsible for themselves!]