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Archive-name: sgi/faq/misc

           SGI misc Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)


This information is freely distributable and wide circulation is encouraged.
The contents are accurate as far as we know, but the usual disclaimers apply.
This FAQ contains errors! Finding them is an exercise for alert readers.

Please send additions and changes to sgi-faq@archone.tamu.edu.

This FAQ is one of the SGI FAQ series, which consists of:

     SGI Admin FAQ - IRIX System Administration
     SGI Apps FAQ - Applications & Compilers
     SGI Graphics FAQ - Graphics & Windowing
     SGI Hardware FAQ - Hardware issues
     SGI Misc FAQ - Introduction & Miscellaneous Information

Each FAQ is posted to each comp.sys.sgi.* group as well as the news.answers
and comp.answers newsgroups (whose purpose is to store FAQs) every two weeks.
If you can't find one of the FAQs with your news program, you can get it by
anonymous FTP from one of these sites:

 rtfm.mit.edu:pub/usenet/news.answers/sgi/faq/misc
 rtfm.mit.edu:pub/usenet/comp.sys.sgi.misc/SGI_misc_Frequently_Asked_Questions
 archone.tamu.edu:ftp/pub/sgi/faq/misc
 rtfm.mit.edu:pub/usenet/comp.answers/sgi/faq/misc

Note that rtfm.mit.edu is home to many other FAQs and informational documents,
and is a good place to look if you can't find an answer here.

Topics covered in this FAQ:
--------------------------
  -1- How can I quickly find the question I want in this FAQ?
  -2- What are the various comp.sys.sgi.* groups?
  -3- What are some related FAQ lists?
  -4- What number do I call for information about SGI products?
  -5- What is the latest release of..
  -6- What is the most current release of IRIX for my machine?
  -7- Is there an easy way to determine which release of IRIX 
      I'm running?
  -8- Can I get a list of known bugs?
  -9- Where can I get used SGI machines?
  -10- Where, in general, can I find software for my SGI?
  -11- Credits

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject:   -1- How can I quickly find the question I want in this FAQ?
Date: 27 May 93 00:00:01 EST

- This FAQ follows the RFC1153 recommendations for message digests and thus
  can be viewed easily with newsreaders that understand message digests.
- Each question has a Subject: line, so you can easily step through the answers
  with rn's ^G command.
- Each question is marked with a "dash number dash" so that you can find any
  answer with a simple search pattern.
- Questions marked with a '+' are new this posting; those marked with a '!'
  have significant new content since the last edition.

------------------------------


Subject:   -2- What are the various comp.sys.sgi.* groups?
Date: 07 May 93 00:00:01 EST

     comp.sys.sgi.admin     System administration on Silicon Graphics's Irises.
     comp.sys.sgi.apps      Applications which run on the Iris.
     comp.sys.sgi.bugs      Bugs found in the IRIX operating system.
     comp.sys.sgi.graphics  Graphics packages and issues on SGI machines.
     comp.sys.sgi.hardware  Base systems and peripherals for Iris computers.
     comp.sys.sgi.misc      General discussion about SGI's machines.
     comp.sys.sgi           Now obsolete
     comp.sys.sgi.announce  Announcements for the SGI community. (Moderated)

     To submit an article for posting in comp.sys.sgi.announce, send mail to:
        Matthew Wicks           sgi-announce-request@dcdmjw.fnal.gov

------------------------------

Subject:   -3- What are some related FAQ lists?
Date: 07 May 93 00:00:01 EST

     SGI Anonymous FTP archives
     Posted monthly to comp.sys.sgi, news.answers
     Contact billh@hampton.sgi.com

     Known SGI User Groups (SUMMARY)
     Posted monthly to comp.sys.sgi
     Contact syscrc@gsusgi1.gsu.edu (Randy Carpenter)

     comp.graphics Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
     Posted monthly to comp.graphics, news.answers
     Contact grieggs@jpl-devvax.jpl.nasa.gov (John T. Grieggs)

     Motif FAQ
     Posted monthly to comp.windows.x.motif,news.answers
     Contact jan@ise.canberra.edu.au (Jan Newmarch)

     comp.windows.x Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
     Posted monthly to comp.windows.x,news.answers,alt.answers,comp.answers
     Contact faq%craft@uunet.uu.net (X FAQ maintenance address)

     comp.windows.x: Getting more performance out of X FAQ
     Posted monthly to comp.windows.x, news.answers
     Contact art@cs.ualberta.ca (Art Mulder)

     Unix - Frequently Asked Questions
     Posted monthly to comp.unix.questions, comp.unix.shell, news.answers
     Contact tmatimar@empress.com (Ted M A Timar)


------------------------------

Subject:   -4- What number do I call for information about SGI products?
Date: 07 May 93 00:00:01 EST

     For product information, call SGI Express or your local SGI
     sales office.

     SGI Express can be reached at: 1-800-800-SGI1 (1-800-800-7441).
     For SGI Technical Support call 1-800-800-4SGI (1-800-800-4744).
     Customers outside of North America must call their regional sales office.

------------------------------

Subject:   -5- What is the latest release of..
Date: 07 May 93 00:00:01 EST

     This changes quite often.

     The best way to get up-to-date information about SGI products
     is to call SGI Express.

------------------------------

Subject:   -6- What is the most current release of IRIX for my machine?
Date: 20 May 93 00:00:01 CST

     As of this writing:

	Indigo (R3000/R4000):  IRIX 4.0.5F
	Indigo2:               IRIX 4.0.5H
	Onyx/Challenge:        IRIX 5.0
	RealityEngine:         IRIX 4.0.5G
	others:                IRIX 4.0.5A

------------------------------

Subject:   -7- Is there an easy way to determine which release of IRIX 
               I'm running?
Date: 20 May 93 00:00:01 CST

'uname -a' gives you all the kernel info; see 'man uname' for other options.

Of more general use, since kernels don't always reflect installed software, is 
the 'versions' command.  'versions' with no arguments lists all the installed
software subsystems.

------------------------------

Subject:   -8- Can I get a list of known bugs?
Date: 07 May 93 00:00:01 EST

     Yes.  In addition to known bugs that are documented in Product
     Release Notes, the IRIS InSight Support Library includes a
     collection of customer reported software, document problems,
     and requests for enhancements in the Software Status Update (SSU)
     binder.

------------------------------

Subject:   -9- Where can I get used SGI machines?
Date: 26 May 93 00:00:01 CST

The SGI Systems Remarketing group makes used SGI machines available to sales
representatives.  If you want to buy a used SGI machine, ask your local sales
rep or call SGI Express at 1-800-800-7441.

wgbhres@world.std.com (Boris Levitin) writes,
     Sun Valley (408)224-6261 Joe Ferris
     Minicomputer Exchange (408)733-4400
     XS International (404)874-1212
     Security Computer Sales (612)227-5683

------------------------------


Subject:   -10- Where, in general, can I find software for my SGI?
Date: 07 May 93 00:00:01 EST

Silicon Graphics can tell you about their own and third-party commercial
software.  Call SGI Express for more information.

The best general reference for finding sources on the Internet is Jonathan
Kamens' "Finding Sources" document. It can be FTPed from rtfm.mit.edu in
pub/usenet/news.answers/finding-sources. Read it carefully before you post a
question about finding software ... because half of your answers will be "look
in Archie" anyway, and "Finding Sources" tells you how to do that. Useful
archive sites include export.lcs.mit.edu for Xwindows software (and Xwindows
itself), aeneas.mit.edu for GNU software, and wuarchive.wustl.edu and
ftp.uu.net for nearly anything, including mirrors of the aforementioned
archives.

The best SGI-specific reference is Bill Henderson's <billh@hampton.sgi.com>
SGI anonymous FTP list. Good places to look, if you just feel like looking,
are ftp.sgi.com, where are kept any number of freebies from the folks at SGI 
and swedishchef.lerc.nasa.gov, a particularly well-stocked SGI site.

Bill Henderson's list is a good place to look for compiled software if you've
had trouble compiling it yourself or don't have a compiler. However, many of
these binaries won't be the latest version, and it's worth checking the latest
version to see if SGI support has improved. SGI's presence has increased
markedly in recent years and the trend is definitely toward better IRIX 
support.


------------------------------

Subject:   -11- Credits
Date: 6 May 93 00:00:01 EST

The comp.sys.sgi FAQs are the collective effort of

  Dale Chayes		dale@ldeo.columbia.edu
  Steve Rikli		steve@archone.tamu.edu
  Allan Schaffer	aschaffe@sgi.com
  Dave Schweisguth	dcs@neutron.chem.yale.edu

Special thanks are due to

  Tom Davis		Author of 'zip'
  Harry Mangalam	Maintainer of the comp.sys.sgi.* WAIS database

Finally, much thanks to all of the SGI employees on Usenet, all of whom have
provided gigabytes of help and information.

Credits for individual contributions are given in the answers.

------------------------------
-- 
Allan Schaffer
aschaffe@sgi.com
-- 
Allan Schaffer
aschaffe@sgi.com