DEC is dishonest - ULTRIX is not UNIX

[Don Steiny]

**
	
	As a software developer that develops software for UNIX
I am a bit ticked off at DEC.

	They claim that ULTRIX is 4.2BSD, or at least 4.2BSD
compatible.   They tell their customers that and they
tell their sales people that.

	Now, if I write a program, and it runs on 4.2bsd.  What 
should happen if I compile the source on ULTRIX?    It should run
right?     The only reason it would not run is because my software
is no good right?   Well, iff it were true that ULTRIX were 4.2bsd
compatible that might be true.   
	
	In sys/acct.h the ac_etime field is float on ULTRIX and
and time_t on UNIX (including 4.1bsd, 4.2bsd, version 7, system III,
system V).  In sys/acct.h the ac_utime and ac_stime fields are 
float on ULTRIX and comp_t on UNIX.    The data types are not even close.
Since that adds 4 bytes to the 24 byte accounting record, the 
/usr/adm/acct file grows 16% faster than on UNIX.

	To cap off this, DEC wants to CHARGE me to use one of
their machines to port my software.    HP, Sun, and Pyramid
besides having machines that can run circles around DEC machines,
were cooperative, polite, and helpful.  They gave me accounts
on a machine.    Zilog was also very helpful, even Intel 
was helpful.   Further, all of the ports, Sun, Pyramid, HP,
Microport on Intel, and Zilog took a matter of hours for me
to port my software to.   I have been fighting with ULTRIX
for two days and just keep discovering other bizarre 
inconsistancies.

	I have had considerable experience now with various ports
and ULTRIX is without a doubt the worst.   It is not even close
to UNIX.  I have never heard anything from any DEC person but 
how terrible UNIX is.  It looks like they are trying to prove their
point by passing off a junk operating system as UNIX and then
saying "see we told you so."

-- 
scc!steiny
Don Steiny @ Don Steiny Software 
109 Torrey Pine Terrace
Santa Cruz, Calif. 95060
(408) 425-0382