UNIX on Amiga 500?

[Thaddeus P. Floryan]

In article <1991Mar9.231842.20395 at jack.sns.com> jtanner at jack.sns.com (Jason Tanner) writes:
>    A friend told me it is possible to run UNIX (Sys V) On an Amiga 500 since
>it uses a 68000 processor like an AT&t Unix-PC.  This is an exciting prospect!
>Is this true? If so what company manufactures it?

The AT&T UNIX-PC (aka 3B1) sports a 68010 and a custom MMU.

Unlike the beliefs of those who watch Disney movies, wishing for something
will not automagically make it happen!  :-)

You may be able to run a Minix port on the A500, but Minix is a far cry from
the SVR4 which CBM is offering on the A3000UX systems.

Back in the 3B1's heyday (1985-1987), the small systems were selling for around
$6,000 and the larger ones for around $9,000.  In the latter part of 1987, the
model was discontinued by AT&T and the prices dropped dramatically to where
the large systems were around $2,000 (with full warranties, etc.)   Software
for the 3B1 is upwards compatible to UNISYS' 68040-systems (UNISYS, formerly
Convergent Technologies, was the OEM for AT&T of the 3B1).

If you want an inexpensive UNIX (albeit SVR2+ with some SVR3 features), suggest
you check out the comp.sys.3b1 newsgroup where many full-featured 3B1 systems
can be found for reasonable prices.  Many college students are grabbing these
systems ASAP, and even many members of the AT&T Silicon Valley UNIX Users'
Group have these models.  Brand new ones are still available (see comp.sys.3b1
ref: Computing Horizons), and if you browse the 3B1 archives (uunet, osu-cis,
etc.) you'll find software contributed by some people presently on the Amiga
SVR4 port team!  :-)

Thad

P.S. Not all sites are receiving comp.sys.3b1 yet, so also look for the
presence of the unix-pc.* newsgroups at your site if you're still interested

Thad Floryan [ thad at btr.com (OR) {decwrl, mips, fernwood}!btr!thad ]