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From: rpw3@amdcad.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.os.minix
Subject: Re: UNIX clone with SOURCE CODE available now
Message-ID: <14555@amdcad.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 31-Jan-87 06:34:05 EST
Article-I.D.: amdcad.14555
Posted: Sat Jan 31 06:34:05 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 31-Jan-87 19:59:51 EST
References: <2681@brl-adm.ARPA> <249@hqda-ai.UUCP> <740@argus.UUCP>
Reply-To: rpw3@amdcad.UUCP (Rob Warnock)
Distribution: world
Organization: [Consultant] San Mateo, CA
Lines: 42
Summary: Strange tax & trade-show rules

+---------------
| >>      The book is published by Prentice-Hall.  They are represented
| >> at the Uniforum conference, and they have the book IN STOCK!  The
| >> source code distributions are available February 15.
| >>      They can't accept cash, check, or charge cards, but you can
| >> take a book with you and they will bill you later.
| >They can't accept cash?  They go on our good faith to pay them back
| >or something?
+---------------

There is often a problem with "selling off the floor" at trade shows, in
that the local/state/federal tax/biz_lic/etc laws are very messy, so that
at most (not all) trade shows such as UniForum "selling off the floor" is
prohibited. For one thing, UniForum is incorporated as a non-for-profit
trade (educational) association, and such selling jeopardizes its tax status.
Selling the books "on account" is used as a way around the letter of the law.

Prentice-Hall was just trying to do folks a favor, because the demand was
simply overwhelming! And yes, they trust you to pay, just like any company
that gives "net 30 day" terms, since your acceptance of the book implies
a contract (verbal contracts are still legal, believe it or not!).

In fact, since they had seriously underestimated the demand for floppies,
they were all gone before USENIX even started (a few days after UniForum
began). With Tanenbaum's blessing, they even allowed a few people to copy
their last set of floppies (on the assumption that such accomodation will
generate further sales of both the book and the software -- true, in my case).

And yes, the stuff DID just come up and boot on Epson "AT"s, real IBM AT's,
and the one other "Brand X" clone I tried...

Incidently, you need the book at hand, since it comes up and says "login:"
and as it has no "guest" or "demo" accounts, without the book you're stuck!
(But both the "ast" and "root" passwords are in the book. Appendix C, I think).


Rob Warnock
Systems Architecture Consultant

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