Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!nbires!hao!gatech!emory!phssra
From: phssra@emory.uucp (Scott R. Anderson)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: The cost of A/ux (Sticker Shock)
Message-ID: <2692@emory.uucp>
Date: 26 Feb 88 03:26:06 GMT
References: <427@sering.cwi.nl> <2739@brspyr1.BRS.Com>
Reply-To: phssra@emory.UUCP (Scott R. Anderson)
Organization: Department of Physics, Emory University, Atlanta
Lines: 27
Summary: Apple's price is not out of line, but it's not for everybody.

In article <2739@brspyr1.BRS.Com> tim@brspyr1.BRS.Com (Tim Northrup) writes:
>
>IBM came out with PC/IX, a full blown UNIX development system for the
>PC roughly 3 years ago, and then it cost around $1000.  Today, you can
>get a full blown MicroPort version of System V for the PC at less than
>$1000.  And you don't have to buy an 80 meg hard disk to get it.
>....
>UNIX in the home has been somewhat affordable for quite some time, and
>I think the price for A/UX is out of line -- $4000 more than the PC
>versions for what?  A bunch of development tools that you may not need,
>and the "privilege" of installing a new 80 meg hard drive into your
>machine.

I think you are missing an important point here:  the cost of A/UX itself
is only around $1000 (quick estimate).  This is in line with the prices
you mention above, and it provides a complete Sys V with BSD enhancements.
The rest of the cost is for the hardware required to run it (e.g. 80 MB
disk, 4 MB memory, PMMU).  And this gives you a level of performance you
can't match with the UNIX's you mention.  So, granted that it's not the
cheapest UNIX around, but it's not at all out of line, given what you are
actually purchasing.  So, don't compare A/UX to a PC; compare it to a Sun.

*                                     Scott Robert Anderson
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