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Xref: sserve comp.os.386bsd.questions:9076 comp.sys.dec:18786 Path: sserve!newshost.anu.edu.au!munnari.oz.au!ihnp4.ucsd.edu!library.ucla.edu!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!howland.reston.ans.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!sdd.hp.com!caen!usenet.coe.montana.edu!bsd.coe.montana.edu!nate From: nate@bsd.coe.montana.edu (Nate Williams) Newsgroups: comp.os.386bsd.questions,comp.sys.dec Subject: Re: what to buy...what to buy *sigh* Date: 3 Mar 1994 18:43:28 GMT Organization: Montana State University, Bozeman MT Lines: 61 Message-ID: <2l5b4g$k4p@pdq.coe.montana.edu> References: <1994Mar2.103006.1@gracie> <2l2p17$c17@pdq.coe.montana.edu> <michaelv.762657945@ponderous.cc.iastate.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: bsd.coe.montana.edu In article <michaelv.762657945@ponderous.cc.iastate.edu>, Michael L. VanLoon <michaelv@iastate.edu> wrote: >And, the MIPS boxes are hardly unsupported, considering Ultrix 4.4 is >just about to hit the streets. True it will be the last version of >Ultrix, but it is a very stable and mature product that should last >for awhile (and 4.4 will have X11R5, from what I understand). I've spoken in private email with the original poster, but I'll respond publically to this. Getting 4.4 assumes you either have access to someone who will give you a copy of it, OR assumes you paid DEC big $$ for a support license. The first scenario is possible if you're a university student, less likely if you're a professional. The second scenario puts a DECstation way out of the PC price league. >Just couldn't let the Buglix slam slide... ;-) In spite of its >shortcomings, Ultrix is a very pleasant system to use in most cases, >and works great on all 700 DECstations scattered about this campus. Hey, I've used Ultrix alot myself, and I am very aware of it's strengths and weaknesses. It's been out long enough now that the biggest problems already have fixes/replacements already done on ftp sites and such. >The 5000/200 is a rather dated piece of hardware. I find my 5000/25 >to maybe not be quite as fast in some things in total speed as a >NetBSD 486 I've seen (mine is a poor 386), but my DECstation feels >smoother and less labored under load. It takes some expensive PeeCee >hardware to make it truly adequate (high-speed uarts, intelligent SCSI >controllers, accelerated video boards, high-speed 32-bit bus). For the amount of money he would spend on a DECstation you could get a expensive PeeCee with all those nice features listed above. >>Something else to think about is that Ultrix is no longer 'supported' by >>DEC as they are moving away from MIPS, so you are stuck with a dead-end >>architecture, while the Intel stuff is still a commodity item. This >>means that a few years from now you should be able to sell your PC to >>most anyone while your DECstation will be only marketable to the niche >>folks. > >Who'd want to sell it? It will perform better than an old PC, and >you'll always have NetBSD/pmax. Relying on vapor-ware is never a good idea. If/when it's released it will be something to think about, but until that time it's vaporware. >Even if you got a new machine, the >DECstation would make a great server or extra X-terminal. A rather expensive X-terminal that runs X11R4. Nate -- nate@bsd.coe.montana.edu | FreeBSD core member and all around tech. nate@cs.montana.edu | weenie. work #: (406) 994-4836 | Graduating May '94 with a BS in EE home #: (406) 586-0579 | - looking for work in CS/EE field.