Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site mouton.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!mouton!hammond From: hammond@mouton.UUCP Newsgroups: net.arch,net.followup,net.micro Subject: Re: AT&T vs. the toolkit approach Message-ID: <77@mouton.UUCP> Date: Tue, 12-Jun-84 06:54:56 EDT Article-I.D.: mouton.77 Posted: Tue Jun 12 06:54:56 1984 Date-Received: Wed, 13-Jun-84 00:11:59 EDT References: <283@stcvax.UUCP>, <861@tekchips.UUCP> Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill Lines: 18 I think that AT&T is responding to the marketplace - not the hacker marketplace, but the real world one they hope will buy their machines. Essentially, MSD*S comes with very few programs and as therefore quite cheap to license on a mass basis (I heard $8/CPU for lots of CPUs). Everyone buying personal computers running MSD*S or equivalent then goes out and pays extra for the programs they really want. I think AT&T is trying to structure their marketing the same way. In some ways this seems to be a sign of a willingness of AT&T to help it's System V resellers. If only 3B's had System V then they could give away the software if you bought the machine. However, if other companies port System V to other machines, then AT&T stands to gain more by not making it too expensive to put on those other machines, hence the MSD*S type strategy of buy what things you want. Without a price list even this is conjecture, but no worse than anyone else's. Rich Hammond Bell Communications Research, allegra!hammond