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From: evan@telly.on.ca (Evan Leibovitch)
Subject: Re: Unix for PC
Message-ID: <D0JyKq.1r5@telly.on.ca>
Organization: Sound Software Ltd., Brampton, Ontario
References: <3bvmo1$hgr@cascade.pnw.net> <D0Ex7E.2nv@ssbunews.ih.att.com> <3c4rhh$54a@bantu.Provo.Novell.COM> <rbbrownD0I2uB.HID@netcom.com>
Date: Fri, 9 Dec 1994 16:46:02 GMT
Lines: 63
In article <rbbrownD0I2uB.HID@netcom.com>,
Randolph B. Brown <rbbrown@netcom.com> wrote:
>: How about price? The value of UnixWare is not diminished at all if you
>: are not going to use the NetWare connectivity. UnixWare is just as capable
>: OS as is Solaris. You choose what you need.
>Price is where UnixWare really hurts (compared to perception), in the
>heterogeneously networked system arena. UnixWare PE is cheap enough,
>but woefully incomplete. By the time you've added SDK (for the
>utilities someone thought I could do without) and NFS (which is
>required for NIS even if you don't want NFS, which I consider a
>required base function), UnixWare PE is about the same price as
>Solaris.
I just called Merisel (one of the few distributors who carries both Sun
and Novell) for some comparison pricing.
As of *today*, the wholesale cost of the Solaris 2.1 uniprocessor desktop
is exactly 48.3% more expensive than the combination of UnixWare Personal
Edition, SDK and NFS. Add C2 Auditing and UnixWare is still less.
UnixWare also allows the bare-bones PE to turn Intel hardware into a
capable X terminal for 31% of the cost of Solaris' desktop. What is
one person's "woeful" incompleteness is another person's flexibility
of not being forced to buy everything for a minimal configuration.
Debates about bundling-versus-unbundling invariably degenerate into
religious arguments.
I agree with the comment about NIS, though. Wasn't it included in the
1.1.2 update whether you had NFS installed or not?
>And the two-user Solaris is complete. Period.
Unless you want the driver development kit; bundled with the UnixWare
SDK, $300 more for Solaris. While the driver stuff is certainly
not something that everyone wants, "complete...period" is clearly
incorrect because there *is* some unbundling. Sun's just drawn the
line at a different spot.
>Resellers are rarely of use in solving my problems. Sun's Catalyst has
>been. I understand Novell is trying to get a developer's program
>going, but it's not yet as well-known, active, or effective as
>Catalyst.
Absolutely correct. The Yes program is in its infancy compared to
Catalyst, but Catalyst is SPARC-centric and really hasn't had to cope
with the wonderments of PC commodity hardware :-)
>Third, people feel that way because Novell, outside of Usenet, has no
>clear message about UnixWare. I realize they are trying, but it hasn't
>worked yet, and a faux pas like the recent announcement of the
>deemphasis of the desktop and the rapprochement with Microsoft hurts.
>It may feel good to blame the press for misinterpretation, but if you
>use multisyllable words and compound sentences with those guys, no
>one can predict what they'll hear.
Agreed.
--
Evan Leibovitch, Sound Software Ltd., located in beautiful Brampton, Ontario
Novell Unix Master Reseller / evan@telly.on.ca / (905) 452-0504
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