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Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!msunews!agate!reason.cdrom.com!usenet From: "Jordan K. Hubbard" <jkh@FreeBSD.org> Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.netbsd.misc,comp.os.linux.advocacy Subject: Re: DEBATE: BSD vs. Linux Date: 2 Sep 1995 02:06:35 GMT Organization: Walnut Creek CDROM Lines: 44 Message-ID: <428e7b$oqo@reason.cdrom.com> References: <4233kp$t8p@hilly.apci.net> <425a9b$89r@felix.junction.net> <425l95$85v@cnn.nas.nasa.gov> <42712r$lp6@reason.cdrom.com> <4276es$8c9@ussenterprise.ufp.org> NNTP-Posting-Host: time.cdrom.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Mozilla 1.1N (X11; I; FreeBSD 2.2-CURRENT i386) X-URL: news:4276es$8c9@ussenterprise.ufp.org Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.unix.bsd.netbsd.misc:935 comp.os.linux.advocacy:19308 bicknell@ussenterprise.ufp.org (Leo Bicknell) wrote: >In article <42712r$lp6@reason.cdrom.com>, >Jordan K. Hubbard <jkh@FreeBSD.org> wrote: >>looks nice and I'd certainly like an ALPHA on my desk, but the smart money >>still says look to the P6 if you're looking for performance and the largest >>array of external options. We certainly didn't back Intel because we liked the >>instruction set! :-) > > I'd like to mention that DEC Alphas are faster then the >P6 will ever be, in fact they make it look like a Z80. More Sorry, I can see how my statement "look to the P6 if you're looking for performance and .." would look like I was saying that the P6 beats the ALPHA's pants off. I know it does not, I was simply implying that if you wanted "good performance" and a wide array of 3rd party add-ons, Intel is your best bet. I know that the fastest ALPHAs will run rings around the P6 (I worked for DEC at one point and I'm a fan of both their ALPHA AND their Intel line of PCs). However, I disagree that you can't build a workstation class machine out of a PC. It's *harder*, I'll certainly grant you that, and you really have to know just which components to buy, but it can be done. Workstation users are spoiled for being able to take the machine out of the box, plug it in, turn it on and go. PC users have to whisper to eachother in dark alleyways and seedy dockside bars, exchanging tips on just which motherboard to buy and how to properly construct a rack mounted multi-SCSI-controller NFS fileserver behemoth. Most importantly, the PC market is amazingly huge and it feeds off its own progress. 24 bit video cards that'll do 1152x900 @ 72 Hz can be had for 1/5 what an accellerated graphics card for a Sun workstation would cost. You can buy off-the-shelf memory and expansion hardware at the local Denny's while you're waiting for your to go burger. And at the high end, some rather nice forced-cooling tower cases with hot-swappable power supplies and staggered-pin connectors (so that power comes off before signal) are becoming available and I can probably build you a pretty spiffy little fileserver or web beast that'll plug directly into a T1 line for between $5K-$10K, depending on what you want. If I wanted an ALPHA it would cost me $5000 just to get in the door, and then I'd be up well past $10K in fitting it for all the same external parts. For the small to midsize business that can't afford to drop $20K on hardware, PCs are a very tempting option. Don't kid yourself! I can show you P5 systems supporting hundreds of users or hundreds of NFS users already today! -- Jordan