What should GNU run on (was Re: wha

[Jeffrey Kegler]

Aritomo Shinozaki (ari at kolmogorov.physics.uiuc.edu) writes:
>
>Let's assume I start with "your average Joe" PC with a nice fast 386,
>and add all the things it needs to be my workstation.  Well, guess
>what?  It costs as much or more than a decent workstation from SUN
>etc.  And I'll also be the only one in the world with this monster.
>I wouldn't disagree that companies jack the price up on some of these
>machines, but when you need the entire package, there are no real
>cheap routes.  Work for a company that gets volume discounts!:-).

I have a 386 PC with a Mono BLIT, IWS card, Intel S5R3.2, 380MB disk,
5MB memory (not enough, I know).  By the time I got all this, yes, I
could have had a Sun.  So why didn't I get a Sun?

1)  Since this is my own money, I would like some resale value for
when I upgrade.  Sun is going to come out with a fancy new box next
year and then where will you be?  Someone will buy my 386 to run Lotus
1-2-3 and this creates a strong resale market.  There are weekly price
quotes in Computerworld for 386 boxes, whereas last year's Sun machine
can be hard to unload at any price.  Anyone want last year's Sun box?

2)  Service alternatives.  You can get hardware for a 386 serviced all
over the place.  You know how much clout the owner of one machine has
with Sun?

3) Prices.  When I want to find the cost of an add-on, I check the ads
in PC Magazine, etc.  Sun's price list is secret.  You wonder why?  (I
hereby challenge Sun to allow its current price list to be posted to
the net.  No unauthorized posting please.  Let's argue facts here.
Show me I'm wrong.)  For example, I have a 60M cartridge drive.  You
cannot back up this size metal on floppies!  The equivalent for your
Sun will require an expansion chassis which alone costs more than the
drive.

The basic workstation setup is priced to look competitive with the PC
equivalent, but move beyond it and you get the sort of stuff that
gives monopoly pricing a bad name.

4) Futures.  Sun controls your upgrade path if you buy from them.
They want you to buy a brand new box.  In the PC market hundreds of
vendors are falling over each other to enable you to upgrade.

=>      The real difference, at this point, is the distribution
=> channel.  If the predominant distribution channel is through
=> retailers, it's a personal computer.  If the predominant
=> distribution channel is through the manufacturer's sales reps, it's
=> a workstation.  The technology is irrelevant.

=> 				John Nagle

This above is the real definition of a workstation.  All the other
"definitions" are descriptions of what you'd like in a workstation,
what you mainly see in thing called PC's as opposed to what you
usually see in things called workstations--interesting, but not
definitions.

The workstation distribution channel is much less competitive and much
more expensive than the PC one.  Those overheads have to be paid for
somehow, and noone should be fooled by the fact that one specific
configuration is a few bucks cheaper.

If you buy them one at a time, Sun really does not want your business.
They cannot support the sales force on onesy-twosies.  It is just a
fact of life and not just a matter of attitude.  Better to realize that
before you buy than after.



-- 

Jeffrey Kegler, Independent UNIX Consultant, Algorists, Inc.
jeffrey at algor2.ALGORISTS.COM or uunet!algor2!jeffrey
1762 Wainwright DR, Reston VA 22090