Path: utzoo!utgpu!attcan!uunet!mcvax!hp4nl!botter!star.cs.vu.nl!ast
From: ast@cs.vu.nl (Andy Tanenbaum)
Newsgroups: comp.os.minix
Subject: Re: Problem with pr command on ATARI
Message-ID: <1640@ast.cs.vu.nl>
Date: 10 Nov 88 10:50:22 GMT
References: <5257@louie.udel.EDU>
Reply-To: ast@cs.vu.nl (Andy Tanenbaum)
Organization: VU Informatica, Amsterdam
Lines: 28

In article <5257@louie.udel.EDU> jack@csmunix.larc.nasa.gov (Jack Dunn) writes:
With the stuff that came with the Atari Minix there
>was a card from PH asking if I wanted the updates for $29.95 US.
>The question is, is this the update that ast has been talking about,
>and are the for both the ST and PC versions?

I don't know precisely what P-H means either.  I had discussed updates with
them and I guess they decided to put that on the card.  There are certainly
no updates planned for the Atari at the moment.  All I can imagine that they
are going to do is build a mailing list from those cards, so that if and when
there is an update, people on the list will receive an order card for it, or
something like that.  I really don't see what else they can do.  Also, I
can't see how they can set a price when they don't know how many disks an
update will be.  Although the blank diskettes are cheap, the price they
have to pay for disk reproduction, labeling, box manufacturing, assembly,
is non negligible and depends on the number of disks.  The upgrade kit for
1.1 and 1.2 users of MINIX-PC is 6 disks (5 sources, 1 with compiler binaries),
and probably will cost somewhat more than $29.95.  I don't think they
realized how extensive the changes would be.  They were probably thinking
in terms of a 500 page book with a 1 page errata sheet, not an 8 disk
software package with a 6 disk update.

Conclusions:
  1. If you are interested in future upgrades, send in the card.
  2. Don't expect any upgrades for a year or so.  There might be one
     when MINIX-PC does to 1.4, though.

Andy Tanenbaum (ast@cs.vu.nl)