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From: ravi@mcnc.UUCP (Ravi Subrahmanyan)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.misc
Subject: Re: Why a Micro is not as powerful as a Vax
Message-ID: <1920@alvin.mcnc.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 4-Jan-87 19:21:07 EST
Article-I.D.: alvin.1920
Posted: Sun Jan  4 19:21:07 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 4-Jan-87 22:35:41 EST
References: <984@hounx.UUCP> <2880@rsch.WISC.EDU> <1611@hoptoad.uucp>
Reply-To: ravi@alvin.UUCP (Ravi Subrahmanyan)
Distribution: world
Organization: Microelectronics Center of NC; RTP, NC
Lines: 50
Keywords: micro vax 750
Summary: It really depends on what you want..  (long)

In article <1611@hoptoad.uucp> gnu@hoptoad.uucp (John Gilmore) writes:
>I was thinking the other day about how people claim that their Atari ST
>has the power of a Vax 750 and why this is bull because the power is
>not harnessed.  The Vax can be configured in hundreds of different ways
>to meet peoples' needs -- e.g. local choice of disks, ports, ram,
>networks, software, etc.  

	I think John's way off the mark here as far as certain users
(like me) are concerned.  I really am not concerned with how many ways
my ST can be configured, but rather with ensuring that I do have 
>>at least one<< configuration I can use.  And, it happens to be
something I like very much.. a choice of disks, RAM is available,
extra ports aren't wanted, I have a fair approximation to my BSD
environment, and networking isn't that big a deal as long as I can use 
kermit or something to move files.

>With the micros you are stuck waiting while
>somebody figures out how to hook things up.  (Now they are all trying
>to figure out how to retrofit multitasking and hook up read/write
>devices to the cartridge ports and turn the joystick socket into a
>network and such.)  Garbage!  It's a lot easier if you just do it right
>in the first place.

	Who's waiting?  And for what?  People will hack, given
anything.  It doesn't mean I am waiting with bated breath for their
success.  I have *no need* for adding a read/write device to the cart
port, and multitasking is available if I want it, but I really don't
care..

>The reason a Sun is as powerful as a Vax, while an Amiga or Atari is
>not, is because Sun interfaced the 68000 to just about anything you
>could get on a Vax, all the software and hardware options (except
>VMS).  

	Agreed, but if I'd wanted to run stuff from our Vaxen on a
micro, I'd have bought a Sun.  As it is, I find it infinitely
preferable to do edits or small compiles (for generic C only, of
course), or make drawings, or just tool around, on a Mac or ST 
rather than on the (usually loaded) 780.  When I'm writing a 20 page
document (not quite out of purgatory yet!), it's so much faster to
get it shipshape (and yes, I check my spellings there too) on a micro
before sending it off to the VAX/Laser combo.

>I/O is the great ghetto of the micro world.

	I think the point is that a <$1000 machine will never be a Sun
precisely because of the corners that had to be cut to get the price
down.  But that doesn't mean it isn't preferable in it's own way..

								-ravi