SCO Unix vs. Xenix

[Warren Tucker]

In article <533 at bria> uunet!bria!mike writes:
>In an article, rodan.acs.syr.edu!ldstern (Larry Stern) writes:
>>Could anyone briefly outline for me the differences between SCO's Unix and
>>Xenix? I am looking for a Unix system to run on my AT clone.
>>Thank you in advance.
>#define SCO_XENIX	EXPENSIVE
>#define SCO_UNIX	OUTRAGEOUSLY_EXPENSIVE

#define SCO_XENIX SMALL | (STABLE * 10) | RICH_SUBSETS_OF_MANY_UNIXES
#define SCO_UNIX BIGGER | STABLE * 2 | RICH_SUBSETS_OF_MANY_UNIXES

You oftern get exactly what you pay for.

SCO outshines all the others in system administration functions
(installation, backups, user administration).  And their support
is great, not perfect (people are involved).  It is expensive 
(People cost money: they too want to buy their kids the GI Joe
with the kung fu grip for Christmas).  Their UUCP-accessible
software supplements are simply marvelous!

It's functionality set has been mimiced by many other vendors
(XENIX compatibility under UNIX, termcap under Sys V, etc. I
am not good enough a historian to be sure of the extent of this,
so flasme suit on).

XENIX is the most compact and robust UNIX-like OS on the face of
the earth.

UNIX, especially ODT, is a *very* cost effective trip into 3.2
(and X).

SCO supports a *wide* variety of peripherals.

You will not always get the 'latest and greatest' from SCO.
They do a very good job of the tedious QA necessary to bring
'universityware' (as one noble fellow put it with not a flame
in his heart) to market.

SCO hat off, {20 year engineering,30 year hacking} hat on:

Hey, 8 years ago, people paid enormous amounts of money for UNIX.
C compilers for some systems (all the minis) cost as much as my
house!

*All* of the -86 UNIX/XENIX vendors have done a great job of
^^^^^
reducing the complexity of admnistration, reducing cost,
enhancing peripheral support and, in short, approaching the "UNIX
functionality for DOS price" goal.  Each and every vendor has
something better about it than another.  But changeable source
code is a long way from a finished, supportable product and there
are tradeoffs to be made when chosing between *products*.  I wish
my Toshiba VCR had some of the features of the Mitsubishi I
returned, but certain special effects on the Toshiba were more
important to my video hacking than an automatic PAUSE on the
screen during record pause.  That's life.

UNIX may be a long way away from DOS prices, but ya usually don't
get what ya don't pay pay for.  And UNIX is still priced above
some people's heads.  Beer is too expensive for some people, too.
That, alas, too is life.

Flame me, but you know it's so.
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Warren Tucker, TuckerWare, Mountain Park, GA         wht at n4hgf.Mt-Park.GA.US
"The computer can't tell you the emotional story.  It can give you the exact
mathematical design, but what's missing is the eyebrows." -- Frank Zappa