Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!purdue!decwrl!vixie
From: vixie@decwrl.dec.com (Paul Vixie)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.nsc.32k
Subject: Re: Goodspeed GS-32 users, anybody out there?
Message-ID: <52@gnome6.pa.dec.com>
Date: 15 Nov 88 23:47:33 GMT
References: <1036@majestix.liu.se> <1038@mina.liu.se>
Organization: DEC Western Research Lab
Lines: 40

# >Am I the only one with a Goodspeed GS-32 Single Board Computer?
# >The GS-32 board is a 32032 design made by Goodspeed Inc.
# 
# And it runs ye olde' GENIX4.1, National's 4.1BSD with demand paging.
# Sure is nice having a real (well, sort of) BSD box to play with!

I remember looking at the Goodspeed product before buying my Symmetric 375.

The 375, for those who don't know it, is a 32016/2MB/10MHz/0-wait box with
a WD1002-05 controller that has room for two 48/96TPI 5.25" floppies and
three ST506/412 drives (1024 cylinders/drive max, though).  All in a box
the size of a very small suitcase.  4 serial ports, 38KB max.  Ethernet and
SCSI are recent options.  It has a 32081 and 082, with NSC's TCU but a custom
PAL for the interrupt control.

It's a cute box, but it's slow.  The name "375" comes of having half the
power of a Vax 750 (no kidding!) which means it has about 0.25 VAX MIPS.
Dhrystone results bear this out.

Software used to be Genix 4.1, but was functionally upgraded in an ugly way
to 4.2BSD, and they've been talking for about a year about how great their
4.3BSD port will be when they ship it.

Symmetric did Goodspeed's software for them, by the way.

Unlike Goodspeed, Symmetric is still around, though I'm not sure why.  Their
prices are outrageous for the level of technology they offer; support and
service are not very good; etc.  They were talking about a Clipper-based box
last year some time, but I don't know what ever came of it.

Even with the warts, I agree with the above: it's been nice to have an
almost-full-BSD machine around at home to play with.  I could get an 8MB
20MHz 386 box for what I paid for the 375, but with ATT System V.3, it is
just not worth a hill of bean dip.  They tell me that V.4 will be better
and may have long filenames, symbolic links, and job control.  All I have
to do is wait until 1990.  Pfa.
-- 
Paul Vixie
Work:    vixie@decwrl.dec.com    decwrl!vixie    +1 415 853 6600
Play:    paul@vixie.sf.ca.us     vixie!paul      +1 415 864 7013