Bell Tech Hardware (was unlimited vs. 1-2 users)

[dar]

(much stuff about bell tech, dimitri, etc, deleted)

For the record, Bell OEM'd tape drives from Wangtek and used tape
controller boards from Everex.  Everex included an encryption PAL 
on their controllers which spit out a unique Everex ID upon 
interrogation by Everex's DOS software.  When not specificially
interrogated, the Everex PAL was absolutely transparent.

In the bad old days before everyone was an expert on tape drivers
for UNIX, you must remember that simply having a tape driver that
*worked* was a major commercial advantage.  Bell started shipping
tape devices with its tape driver because in the old days people
just didn't have the expertise, in general, to cobble up a working
solution using our software and bits and pieces of hardware 
purchased from a variety of sources.

The Bell PAL returned a different code than the Everex PAL in order
to differentiate Bell sold mechanisms from Everex mechanisms.  This
allowed warranty tracking, technical services and support and other
identification to seperate stuff sold in the UNIX market (which
Everex wanted to avoid in those days), from the DOS market (which Bell
*always* wanted to avoid).

It also allowed a couple of entrepreneurs working out of the garage
to avoid suffering the double whammy of not only getting their software
ripped off, but also having to support an infinity of screwball 
"perfectly compatible" mechanisms.  Try starting a self-funded company
sometime and you will immediately understand the interest in getting
paid for what you do, while not doing work for other people for free. 

Whatever your political views on shareware or software protection are, 
give them free rein in your own business.  Bell had a terrific history of 
handing out lots of free or near-free software (remember us giving 
away all of UNIX to people that bought low cost hard disks?).
The hard facts of economic life are that some software businesses can
not be entered with non-protected software.  Do what you think is 
right for your own business.  To build Bell, we had to ensure we got
paid for what, at the time, was an extraordinary offering in tape 
software.  (And, if you didn't think it so extraordinary, you could
always get your money back!)

Note carefully - Bell's tape always worked with any standard QIC UNIX
or Xenix tape driver.  Also, if anyone ever wanted to buy somebody
else's tape, they could do so.  For that matter, if you wanted to
write your own driver or get specs on any of our stuff, we'd give it
to you.  As far as I know, Bell was the only company selling source
code kits to 3.2 AT device drivers for a mere $2000, and actually 
giving away sources free (under nondisclosure, of course) to people that
wanted to use our products. [Calm down, AT&T friends... I meant Bell 
sources :)]

As regards UNIX, we supported the Bell tape early in because that was
the device driver we had.  The "qt" driver that we got with 3.2 always 
supported any other QIC 36 or QIC02 standard tape mechanism.  In fact,
in 3.2, even the Bell gadget (tape, ports card, etc) device drivers
were not in the kernel.  You had to load them in from the Bell distribution
diskettes.  We did it that way because we felt that it was stupid to 
junk up the kernel with device drivers for 285 different cards when 
users would only install cards from a single vendor or two.

Anyway, almost all serious vendors of ports cards and the like will insist
on providing the very latest device drivers *of their design and support*.
They know that vendors supporting 26 different ports cards don't do as good
a job with each as the vendor of the card does.  Most users know that too.
That's how it is in a mature system, like DOS: third party developers like
to provide a single, standard driver that will work on standard OS's as
supplied from any distributor of said OS.  Wouldn't it be great if UNIX
were that way?

Now, on a personal note, for all of those hotshots who wouldn't
buy a thing from me, you probably have and have probably re-oriented
your business to use it.  Bell played a key role in proliferating
what is now known as modern UNIX to the masses.  However impressed
you may be with UNIX and X Window and the wonders of 3.2 with TCP
and NFS and all of that great stuff, keep in mind that you saw it
first on Intel clone architectures at Uniforum three years or more
ago at Bell Tech's and Intel's booth (running on Bell Tech gear).

Four years ago we set out to provide *real* UNIX and X in a low cost, 
affordable way to every Intel compatible user.  We took some extreme
measures, like designing the Blit and selling it for $995 including
software.  We even cranked out a special X release for the Blit stuff
re-targeted for Hercules monographics clone boards for a mere (as I 
recall) $45.  The key idea has always been, and continues to be now,
to re-cycle the great engine of clone economics for the benefits
of us UNIX users.

Soooo... before you rush in to criticize my efforts, tell me how you
would have done better to serve this objective (unless, of course,
like the people J.P. works for now you *don't like* the idea of
low cost UNIX available to all the low cost, high performance clone
users*).   To be perfectly blunt, I can't imagine a greater waste of
the net's resources than flaming or defending particular individuals.

Shall we get onto discussing UNIX?

Ahhh ... sure great to be back on the net! :) 

- Dimitri Rotow


* This comment is the "waving a red flag in front of a bull" strategy
for starting a lot of useless flames. :)