Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!lll-lcc!ames!ucbcad!ucbvax!hplabs!nsc!nsta!instable!amos From: amos@instable.UUCP (Amos Shapir) Newsgroups: comp.arch Subject: Re: Cost of Designing a New Computer Message-ID: <666@instable.UUCP> Date: Mon, 5-Jan-87 03:17:53 EST Article-I.D.: instable.666 Posted: Mon Jan 5 03:17:53 1987 Date-Received: Mon, 5-Jan-87 21:35:45 EST References: <950@husc6.UUCP> Reply-To: amos%nsta@nsc.com (Amos Shapir) Organization: National Semiconductor (Israel) Ltd. Lines: 24 In article <950@husc6.UUCP> reiter@harvard.UUCP (Ehud Reiter) writes: >I'm trying to get some order of magnitude estimates for what resources >are required to design a state-of-the-art "new" computer system. ... >New micro system software - 100's of engineer man-years >New supermini system software - 1000's of engineer man-years >Port UNIX to new supermini - 1's of engineer man-years >New mainframe system software - 1000's of engineer man-years You must be a hw engineer :-) There's no reason that mini or mainframe software would be an order of magnitude bigger than micro sw. UNIX was written by 2 men over 2 years, and the same version ran on minis & mainframes; on the other hand, if you consider *all* sw available for the IBM PC it must have taken 1000s of man- sorry, person- years. With many portable languages and environments available, it's not the size of the hw, but the functionality that determines the effort required; e.g. do you want just a small CP/M-size monitor, or a full-blown multi-user commercial system? -- Amos Shapir National Semiconductor (Israel) 6 Maskit st. P.O.B. 3007, Herzlia 46104, Israel (011-972) 52-522261 amos%nsta@nsc 34.48'E 32.10'N