Mail Archives: opendos/1997/09/17/14:02:59
-= ArkanoiD =- wrote:
> I don't believe you. You run Linux or FreeBSD,right? There is no PC Unix that
> compares with OSF/1. So,the nearest things are Slowaris/Intel or Unixware.
> I am nearly sure 166MHz Alpha will run OSF/1 better than 166MHz p5 will run
> any of those monsters (that do not provide features OSF/1 does anyways).
Linux on PC. OK, the Alpha might run at a comparable speed if it had
256MB of RAM or something (ours have 64MB) and didn't have to swap. But
doing the same build on Linux on the P5 and on the Alpha (both using gcc
2.7.2.2) the Linux one takes half the time, if that. That's with both
stripped down to a single xterm and no other applications. The Alpha
uses (wastes) masses of memory because of the RISC 64bit instruction
set, which is why it swaps so much. And OSF/1 doesn't help.
I've heard that an Alpha running Linux is in fact shit-hot - I've never
seen one so I can't judge.
> SCSI controller is the thing i need _anyways_. And you can buy it *much*
> cheaper.
As I said, I don't need one for anything else. The only peripherals on
the PC are video (PCI bus), serial and parallel ports (on the motherboard),
mouse (you can't convince me a mouse needs SCSI!) and MIDI interface,
plus the hard and floppy disks and a "flopy-tape" streamer (QIC-20).
> 2 devices on IDE bus (4 on dual channel).
Oh, you mean that SCSI adapters have 7 ports rather than 4. If I could
afford 4 maximum sized disks I'd buy something bette than a 166MHz P5...
> > > and SCSI is not just a disk subsystem,it is general purpose peripherial
> > > interface. And it exists beyond PC world.
> >
> > Being non-PC is irrelevant to me, I don't expect to use my peripherals
> > with anything else.
>
> Hmm,you have DEC Alpha,right?
No, the place where I work has a DEC Alpha. They aren't getting my hard
disks...
(They buy the expensive disks from DEC, of course, so the workstation
only has 1400 Mb total, of which 300Mb or more is needed for each project
build, and I often have to work on 3 projects simultaneously.)
> I have a couple of VAXen and a Macintrash.
VAXen used to be good when they came out. Or are these the microVAXen?
> > I haven't seen any peripherals I want with only
> > SCSI interfaces recently (almost all CD and writable CD devices are IDE
> > now), and those I would like are far beyond my budget (the big tape
> > streamers, for instance).
>
> There still are *small* tape streamers ;)
Which fit quite well on the cheap (free) floppy interface, or even the
parallel port. It's only the big fast ones designed for commercial users
which need SCSI, and they are expensive.
Chris C
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