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From: bob@allosaur.cis.ohio-state.edu (Bob Sutterfield)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: Re: diskless NeXT? (was Re: Announcement vs reality)
Keywords: Next
Message-ID: <28680@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu>
Date: 30 Nov 88 02:44:44 GMT
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In article <28659@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu> romig@stegosaur.cis.ohio-state.edu (Steven M. Romig) writes:
>The point I was making is that using local disks puts the software in
>the hands of the user.

...which is fine and dandy in some installations, but we're leery
about it here where most people are only very transiently associated
with a particular workstation.  Some companies give individual users
complete responsibility for, and control over, the box beside his/her
desk.  If he hurts anyone, it's only himself.  Here, only the lucky
few (like me :-) with machines in their offices might use a particular
one more often than anyone else in the department would.  And even
those hosts are available to the unwashed masses for dial-in access.
But the great majority of our workstations are out in semi-public
labs, where anyone off the street has direct physical access, and any
CIS undergrad above the 200 level courses has an account.  Those
people expect Steve and me to keep each one acting just like the one
next to it.

>Some people may choose to do that - I would rather not, but I won't
>have any choice about it if NeXT doesn't support diskless
>workstations.

We could always keep buying Suns, and not let NeXT make our choices
for us.