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From: rwwetmore@orchid.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.unix.xenix
Subject: Re: Non-Xenix alternatives to "Re: MicroPort Customer Support" ??
Message-ID: <10742@orchid.waterloo.edu>
Date: Fri, 18-Sep-87 12:17:04 EDT
Article-I.D.: orchid.10742
Posted: Fri Sep 18 12:17:04 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 19-Sep-87 16:10:39 EDT
References: <10077@beta.UUCP> <945@minnow.UUCP> <2274@ubvax.UUCP>
Reply-To: rwwetmore@orchid.waterloo.edu (Ross Wetmore [ICR])
Organization: U. of Waterloo, Ontario
Lines: 37

In article <2274@ubvax.UUCP> vix@ubvax.UUCP (Paul Vixie) writes:
>Having heard all these stories about MicroPort's installation, I am worried
>that there is just NO decent version of Unix(tm) for 386-style machines.
>Could some one or ones please tell me...
>
>	* are these problems with the V.2 or V.3 release, or both?
>	* does the system work okay once you get it installed?
>	* is the AT&T, ISC, or BellTech version just as "bad"?

  I have been installing and upgrading MicroPort SV/AT on a clone with
a non-standard drive for well over a year now with none of the problems
in installation which have been posted by a vocal few lately. Put into
proper perspective, most versions of Unix(tm) are decent, and software
support which can be reached 24 hours a day, and deliver upgrades or
replacements within 48 hours, can't be all that bad even when screwing up.

  I don't believe MicroPort is shipping for the 386 yet. However, the 286
version has been pretty stable for a year or so. I have had two disk I/O
write errors bring the system down in the last 9 months, and occasionally
have to zap a hung process. Apart from some idiosyncracies of the system,
this is the limit of random problems. There are some outstanding bugs but
they seem to fall into the categories of 1) difficult to fix critical bugs
but in highly specific areas, 2) oversights in some newly released stuff,
3) things that aren't considered high priority. 

  Examples in case 1) supposed to be fixed in 2.3 are the clock runs slow,
some problems with 80287 interrupts, and in case 3) MicroPort has the usual
Unix attitude towards the Fortran compiler. It is a real pain if your work
gets hung up on 1) or 3) problems, however this is a problem with all
vendors, MicroSoft, DEC or IBM have reputations too. There is certainly
room for improvement, but I don't think the case is as hopeless as one
might think from the recent noise.

Ross W. Wetmore                 | rwwetmore@water.NetNorth
University of Waterloo          | rwwetmore@math.waterloo.edu
Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1       | {clyde, ihnp4, ubc-vision, utcsri}
(519) 885-1211 ext 3491         |   !watmath!rwwetmore