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From: karl@grebyn.COM (Karl A. Nyberg)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions,comp.unix.xenix
Subject: Re: Starting a Public Access Unix System -- How?
Message-ID: <4771@grebyn.COM>
Date: Sun, 18-Oct-87 21:13:42 EDT
Article-I.D.: grebyn.4771
Posted: Sun Oct 18 21:13:42 1987
Date-Received: Mon, 19-Oct-87 02:44:10 EDT
References: <834@seradg.Dayton.NCR.COM>
Organization: Grebyn Corporation; Vienna, VA
Lines: 49
Keywords: questions opinions
Xref: mnetor comp.unix.questions:4581 comp.unix.xenix:989

In article <834@seradg.Dayton.NCR.COM>, pat@seradg.Dayton.NCR.COM (Patrick Pesch) writes:

> 	o  Is there a user need for such systems in moderately sized
> 	   cities?  How would one go about advertising such a service?

I run such a service in metropolitan Washington, DC.  Not exactly a
moderatly sized city.  I have users from Dallas to Boston, as well as local
folks.   Advertisement is mostly word of mouth, and on the appropriate
electronic forums, in computer stores, and the local high tech business
papers.

> 	o  Is a 286 machine enough to support such a system (i.e. anybody
> 	   out there doing it successfully now)  or do I *have* to go
> 	   386?

Dunno.  I use a microvax II.  It's supposedly rated at .9x MIPS.
> 
> 	o  Would I inherit any overwhelming legal responsibilities
> 	   (i.e. down time, data loss, etc...)?

If there are, I haven't been hit with them, YET.  I disclaim all that stuff
in the timesharing agreement that people sign, so I am HOPEFULLY covered.

> 	o  What sort of charges would be "fair"?  Should they be based on
> 	   connect time only, etc...

Well...  I charge $10 to sign up.  $25 / month minimum gets 10 hours
connect, 1 hour CPU, and 1/2 MB disk quota.  After that, it's $2/Connect,
and $50/CPU.  Hardly ANYBODY ever uses more than 1 hr CPU.

> 	o  Is there much public domain (or cheap) "BBS like" software for 
> 	   Unix?  Is this type of software necessary, or would most users 
> 	   just want access to one of the standard shells anyway?

Well, having a VAX is just about the most popular machine for software, and
Ultrix is so close to BSD that just about everything that comes across the
net compiles and runs on the system fine.  I have USENET news 2.11(8), Gnu
EMACS(18.49), smail (2.2?), etc.

> 	o  How much TIME would it require (like in hrs/wk)?

It varies.  Days on end when I'm trying to upgrade the system.  Otherwise,
usually less than an hour a day.

-- Karl -- 
Karl A. Nyberg				Grebyn Corporation
karl@grebyn.com				P. O. Box 1144
nyberg@ajpo.sei.cmu.edu			Vienna, VA 22180
{decuac,umd5,vrdxhq}!grebyn!karl	703-281-2194