UNIX Sys V, consider it the only game in town

[Landon C. Noll]

In article <263 at lsuc.UUCP> dave at lsuc.UUCP (David Sherman) writes:
 >In article <6818 at brl-tgr.ARPA> Tom Perrine <tom at LOGICON.ARPA> writes:
 >>Recently I called ATT Technologies (1-800-828-UNIX).
 >>
 >>I was investigating the cost of upgrading a PWB/UNIX source license to
 >>V7 (so we could get 2.9!). We are a subsidiary license of DoD.
 >> ...
 >>In other words, no matter what you want, you get a Sys V license,
 >>whether your hardware is supported or not, and they will ship you some
 >>older system that probably will run on your hardware.
 >>
 >>Foo! Maybe MCI, Sprint or GTE should go into the operating system business.
 >>Anybody have a contact for GNU? I'm completely disgusted.
 >
 >I don't understand what you're complaining about. If you ever want
 >to get software from anywhere else, it certainly makes sense for you
 >to have a System V license rather than something earlier. We went
 >through the same business two years ago, and we got a System III license
 >although we're only running v7. May come in useful too.

Some people get so completely disgusted with the way AT&T has pushed Sys V
onto the market that they would prefer to not have anything with the whole rot.

The fact that you have to get a "standard" UN*X to have the permission to
have some other major UN*X source (like V7, 2.xBSD, 4.xBSD...) smells of
fully digested food.

<BEGIN DRAMATIC IRONY>

	"Mugsy and I have noticed that you have been selling goods made by
	 the boys from across town."

	   "Yes, well I did.  But what is the problem?  The other buys got the
	    original stuff from you guys and just changed it."
	
	"Yes, well we would prefer you to buy from us.  We like it very much
	 when you buy it from us."

	   "But I like their ..."

	"And it would be a shame we could not protect you from their
	 non-standard products!  Wouldn't that me a shame Mugsy?"

	"Yea.  It would be real shame if one of them cross town products
	 harmed one of your disk files..."

<END DRAMATIC IRONY>

The above is a fictional dialogue and in no way is meant to claim
that AT&T is doing anything illegal.  Any tie between the MOB and
AT&T in the above lines should neither be directly nor indirectly
implied.   Any attempt to do so is not condoned by the author.

As normal: This article is not a statment of policy by my company.

chongo <id like to buy a Fish license for my pet fish Eric without Sys V> /\55/\
-- 
    Lome tiranar?  Ash Urnikx arda!  Ash thrakatuluk krimpatul!

				A chant from the AT&T marketing book
					<arpox.>