[rescue] Interactive Unix?

[Greg A. Woods]

[ On Monday, December 10, 2001 at 15:47:46 (-0500), Loomis, Rip wrote: ]
> Subject: RE: [rescue] Interactive Unix?
>
> Hmmm...fact check says "bzzt":
> 
>   http://www.sun.com/software/solaris/Interactive/

Ah, so that's what happened to ISC UNIX....

> Reading between the lines, and based on what I
> remember (with some help from e-mails from Bill),
> here are some opinions disguised as fact:
>   - Sun ported SunOS (4.x originally, IIRC) to
> 	the 386i, but the port always had issues

I wasn't sure if the 386i ever ran SunOS-4 or not.   I only ever had
brief exposure to one.  It was a curious attempt by Sun to effectively
say "look, we can build a PC too!", but it wasn't really much better,
and of course it wan't really a clone because it only ran Sun's
software.

>   - Sun bought Interactive UNIX from Kodak, and
>  	used its device handling/kernel shtuff as
> 	inputs into the x86 SunOS/Solaris port.

I'd be surprised if they actually needed any of the drivers.  I'd guess
they just took it over because they were probably the last and largest
reseller.

>   - By the time Solaris 7/x86 rolled around,
> 	it was almost usable.  By then, though, other
> 	*IX operating systems on Intel hardware
> 	had surpassed it in most important ways--
> 	unless your primary concern was source
> 	code compatibility with Solaris/SPARC.

The SunOS-5.7 and newer kernels still have some advantages, even on
Intel, though unless you're already a Solaris shop the cost of ownership
is probably prohibitive (despite the fact you can get it up and running
almost for free).

> Hey, at least it wasn't Intergraph UNIX...which is
> what I was also admin-ing in 1990 at about the
> same time as I was running a Sun 386i.

Yuck.  Almost as bad as Irix!  ;-)

-- 
								Greg A. Woods

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