🚀 go-pugleaf

The lack of a "good" C compiler for the IBM/RT is a serious limitation.
Has anybody tried to port the gnu C compiler?  We have had very good
results with gcc on our Suns, so the effort could be worthwile.  

Now, for my gripes about the RT:

  1)  It is very silly to market a U**X machine without support for a 
      half-inch tape drive.  My other job (Springfield Public Schools)
      bought an RT to support assessment data services. (Remember the
      standardized tests that you hated in high-school?)  We use data
      that is created by sites who still believe in EBCDIC, and think
      that a cartridge tape is something that you store Commodore/64
      programs on.  There are a suprising number of these places in
      world -- take a look at the operations center of your local bank.
      The half-inch standard is a format that almost all data processing
      sites can handle.  
      
  2)  The VRM (Virtual Resource Manager) that AIX runs under (over?) 
      makes it difficult to get support from second-source software
      companies.   The company that developed our tape driver (CFN
      Industries) had experience developing PC and Unix applications,
      but had difficulties implementing the VRM code.  There have been
      repeated rumors that the "next" version of AIX will not have the
      VRM in it, which makes it not worthwile for a company to spend time
      developing applications for it.

  3)  IBM does not know how to support the RT.  I have been annoyed by
      representatives who, even now, say "RT? You must mean the XT."  
      One of them recently told me that IBM doesn't know whether to 
      support the RT as a personal computer or a minicomputer yet.  (I
      was asking about a software support contract.)  This is a problem,
      because the machine has been available for about three years.
     
  4)  RT components (disk drives, software upgrades, etc.) take several
      months to arrive.

The hardware is fine: the only components that have failed us were the
battery for the real-time clock and a latch on our floor-standing case.

I would not recommend the IBM/RT for the faint-of-heart, at least until
IBM has some more direction with the product.  A PC-386 with lots of memory
and disk (and SCO Xenix or the like) is probably the safest IBM U**X route
for now.  

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These comments do not represent the official opinions of any person, entity,
or anything else that I work for.
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George Rankin           (rankin@cs.uoregon.edu)   Mail:  George Rankin
							 625 E 43rd.
							 Eugene, Oregon
							 97402