*BSD News Article 58001


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From: tls@rek.tjls.com (Thor Lancelot Simon)
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.advocacy,alt.os.linux,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.netbsd.misc
Subject: Re: a monthly FreeBSD magazine (and other *BSD's too)
Date: 4 Jan 1996 02:57:37 -0500
Organization: Never!
Lines: 37
Message-ID: <4cg19h$2d6@fearsome.tjls.com>
References: <4ajc07$sb7@unix2.glink.net.hk> <4ca3gu$4nc@news1.halcyon.com> <4cdijr$hjg@toplink1.toplink.net> <4cfq48$9lg@news1.halcyon.com>
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Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.os.linux.advocacy:31823 alt.os.linux:6798 comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:11334 comp.unix.bsd.netbsd.misc:1706

In article <4cfq48$9lg@news1.halcyon.com>,
Tim Smith <tzs@coho.halcyon.com> wrote:
>Christian Kratzer <ck@news.toplink.de> wrote:
>>I think a very large portion of the FreeBSD and NetBSD user community would
>>considre an IDE CDROM (and also other ide devices) a "wierd device" they would 
>>not touch with 5 foot isolated pole ;->
>>
>>This could be an indicication that FreeBSD is used far more in professional
>>scsi only environments and far less in a home/garage environments.
>
>Unless you need more than one CD-ROM drive, or need to be a CD-ROM server
>in addition to being a file server, how do you justify the extra cost for
>a SCSI CD-ROM?  The ~$200 price difference could be better used for something
>like a bigger hard disk, or more memory, or a better monitor.

I'll list, instead, some reasons I'll never buy an IDE *anything*.

A) I can't use it on anything but seriously losing hardware.

B) It uses a seriously losing interface that will be dead within two years.

C) $200 price difference?  8-speed CD-ROM drives seem to cost almost exactly
   the same in either interface, which isn't surprising since ATAPI CD-ROM
   drives essentially have a SCSI interface on them anyway.  2-speed drives
   are cheaper in SCSI last I looked -- if you can even get them in IDE.  I
   don't generally buy anything in the middle, so I don't know what it costs.

D) I can't use it on anything but seriously losing hardware.  If I could get
   a PCI motherboard that didn't use up one of the devices for an IDE
   controller, believe you me, I absolutely positively would.  And any non-
   i386 hardware I own (quite a bit, actually) is about as likely to support
   IDE as it is to support IPI -- less likely, actually, since IPI doesn't
   totally lose.
-- 
Thor Lancelot Simon                                             tls@rek.tjls.com

   Where is the day that melted into one rich noise?          --Thomas Wolfe