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From: gwyn@brl-smoke.ARPA (Doug Gwyn )
Newsgroups: comp.sources.d
Subject: Re: Sun vs. 3B2 (was: Ksh availability?)
Message-ID: <6615@brl-smoke.ARPA>
Date: Fri, 30-Oct-87 00:43:01 EST
Article-I.D.: brl-smok.6615
Posted: Fri Oct 30 00:43:01 1987
Date-Received: Wed, 4-Nov-87 05:44:35 EST
References: <147000007@tiger.UUCP> <1903@killer.UUCP>
Reply-To: gwyn@brl.arpa (Doug Gwyn (VLD/VMB) <gwyn>)
Organization: Ballistic Research Lab (BRL), APG, MD.
Lines: 43

In article <1903@killer.UUCP> elg@killer.UUCP (Eric Green) writes:
>well, I'm posting this from an AT&T 3b2 right now. Believe me, compared to
>what kind of stuff is available on a Sun, Sys V.2.2, at least, is so
>plain-vanilla that it's (almost?) painfull. I wouldn't attempt to use Sys V
>without getting either csh or ksh, and a whole bunch of baubles out of the
>net.archives (e.g. the "less" pager, "jove", & sundry other utilities).

I think the claim was not that a bare 3B2 was more useful than a Sun
workstation, but that a 3B2 with an attached 630 was comparable to one.
Definitely there is a difference in architectural philosophy and many
details, but I for example have had access to both and I slightly prefer
the 630/3B2 combo to a Sun-3 for the type of work I typically do (mostly
software development).  SVR2V2 is not the current 3B2 OS release, by the
way; SVR3.1 is, and it's significantly better than SVR2V2 in a number of
ways.  By the way, on a 630/3B2 (actually one 3B2 can support multiple
independent 630s), the editor of choice would be "sam", available from
the AT&T UNIX System ToolChest (actually they may just have a 5620
version at present, but I suspect Dave Prosser will make available his
updated version for the 630, or one could probably adapt it without too
much work since the 630's programming environment is highly source-
compatible with the 5620's).  If "sam" is unavailable, one would use
"jim"; either is quite a bit better than "jove", "vi", and other
similar editors for most purposes.  I would also use "pg" (supplied
with the OS) for pagination, or better yet use the scrolling/mouse
editing features of the 630 instead.

The main drawback to the layers protocol, RFS, and so forth is not
technical, since in some ways they are superior to competitive
alternatives, but rather the lateness of their appearance on the
scene, abetted by what I am told is still inadequate knowledge
about these developments on the part of some of the AT&T sales staff.

Of course, by now most of you have probably heard that some time in
the future, SunOS and AT&T's System V are supposed to be totally in
sync, with a shared common Application Binary Interface based on the
SPARC architecture.  However, it's still mostly a plan rather than a
reality.  It promises to be pretty nice eventually, if all goes well;
imagine being able to buy a single shrink-wrapped application at the
local store that would work properly on both your home computer and
on the biggest system at work.

By the way, WHY are all these architectural discussions taking place
in this newsgroup??