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Conference hydra::amiga_v1

Title:	AMIGA NOTES
Notice:	Join us in the NEW conference - HYDRA::AMIGA_V2
Moderator:	HYDRA::MOORE

Created:	Sat Apr 26 1986
Last Modified:	Wed Feb 05 1992
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	5378
Total number of notes:	38326

3103.0. "Help with project required." by AYOV28::ATHOMSON (C'mon, git aff! /The Kelty Clippie) Tue Nov 14 1989 13:28

Help required.

I think that I may have the opportunity in the near future to participate in
putting a really powerful Ami system together. The system will be used to
demonstrate the power of 'low-end' systems, and will sit on a LAN with several
PCs. I have some questions though which I really need to get answers to before
I can put the proposal together. 

A) The bridgeboard. (AT)

When running MSDOS in a window on the Amiga screen, what graphics capability
does it have (if any) ? If it doesn't have any graphics, can I simply buy a VGA
card and stick it in a slot ? (I presume so). Assuming the system will have a
flickerFixer and a multi-synch monitor, and assuming that I will need a VGA
card, how can I arrange things to easily switch the monitor between the VGA
card and the fF ? 

B) UNIX. 

The base system will probably be a A2500, ('020 system - right ?) does this
come with the required MMU ? or will I have to go for a A2000 plus the C= '030
board and a large HD ? What is the status of Unix for Ami ? I will have to be
absolutely certain that it's not vapourware before I include it in the proposal
document (I expect the Unix OS capability would be a major part of the
justification). 


I'll probably come back with more questions as I develop this proposal but
these are the first ones that come to mind.

			Thanks,
					Alan T.

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
3103.1	There ya go...	FROCKY::BALZER	Christian Balzer DTN:785-1029	`Tue Nov 14 1989 13:55`	19
	A) The Janus stuff can emulate CGA stuff, the best thing would be to run it on it's own screen, so you can get all the colors. There is no problem plugging in a VGA card and switching the monitor sources, however you'll probably have to built that switch yourself. B) They'll probably hang me for this, but... AMIX (Amiga Unix) isn't finished yet. You should contact CBM either in GB or the US to see what they can do for you /tell you. Right now only a few handfull of commercial developers (can) have it. And it requires the complete package right now, which consists of a B2000, A2620, big disk and the 150MB streamer. The reason for the delay(s) in getting AMIX out are X-Windows, NFS and Release 4 (not necessarily in that order). Just don't tell anybody I told you ;) <CB>
3103.2	><	AYOV28::ATHOMSON	C'mon, git aff! /The Kelty Clippie	`Tue Nov 14 1989 14:11`	8
	Thanks <CB>, but can I ask you this....... Is it ABSOLUTELY and CATEGORICALLY the (current) intention of C= that they WILL eventually release Unix for Ami ? and that (to the best of your knowledge, of course) it will not be shelved ? Alan T.
3103.3		SMAUG::SPODARYK	Binary Throttle	`Tue Nov 14 1989 15:21`	27
	Well, I can't answer for <CB>, but from what I've been reading and seen, Commodore Unix is for REAL. The A2500UX is for REAL. This is not vapor, I have seen it, and there are no intentions of 'shelving' it. Commodore has a lot riding on this system. It's their chance to finally break the Amiga into the workstation market, and (hopefully) they won't blow it. Back to .0 An Amiga system comprised of... B2000+A2620( or A2630. Choose your weapon ) MicroBotics HardFrame + Fast HD (Quantum 80s?) Ethernet Board (from Ameristar, soon to be the Commodore Ethernet board) X11 (from GfxBase) Amiga/DECnet or TCP/IP (from Syndesis) BridgeBoard, FlickerFixer, Multi-Scanning monitor Would probably do quite nicely. Do you really need Unix? An Amiga running MS-DOS (either in a WorkBench window, or separate monitor), running an X11 Server, and several Clients (something that PC DECwindows can't do) and running AmigaDOS applications in it's 'native' environment, would be very impressive! ~Steve (rambling again)
3103.4		LEDS::ACCIARDI		`Tue Nov 14 1989 16:22`	5
	Why not budget in another $500 or so for a full Macintosh emulation package as well? Ed.
3103.5	No promises	TLE::RMEYERS	Randy Meyers	`Tue Nov 14 1989 23:24`	26
	Re: .2 > Is it ABSOLUTELY and CATEGORICALLY the (current) intention of C= that > they WILL eventually release Unix for Ami ? and that (to the best of > your knowledge, of course) it will not be shelved ? No guarantees. Even if the company's future seems to be riding on it (which isn't the case), even if they've shipped field test units, even if the developers and company management swear its coming out, to can't be sure until it's on the dealer's shelves After spending about eight years at DEC, I've seen dozens of important, close-to-being-finished, or even working products scrapped, even after the company spent millions of dollars on development. I don't believe in anything until it's being sold to customers. Personally, I'd be willing to bet small sums of money that Commodore will sell Unix for the Amiga (I've seen one of the developer's units). But, I wouldn't get involved in something that would fail if it wasn't made available, and I wouldn't risk looking like a big fool to my boss (I look like a small fool all the time :->). If Amiga Unix is that important, then hold off making any proposal until it comes out. If you can justify the purchase without Unix, then go ahead (and include a "we'll need some more money to buy Amiga Unix when it comes out" as a line in your proposal).
3103.6	Amax is in there.	AYOV28::ATHOMSON	C'mon, git aff! /The Kelty Clippie	`Wed Nov 15 1989 08:30`	16
3103.7	More leakage...	FROCKY::BALZER	Christian Balzer DTN:785-1029	`Wed Nov 15 1989 10:00`	12
	Re: .2 If nothing goes seriously wrong, CBM will release AMIX. But keep Randy's words from .5 in mind, he obviously knows what he's talking about and my experiences are similar. As soon as a more or less bulletproof system for the shipping of AMIX is found (CBM can't risk a license "war" with AT&T) they plan to ship it w/o all the hardware. Regards, <CB>
3103.8	looks like Commodore is ramping up AMIX development	AIAG::WISNER	you may ask yourself 'How do I work this?'.	`Thu Nov 16 1989 21:14`	6
	My roomate was looking through the "Help Wanted" section in the Boston Globe and he spotted an ad from Commodore looking for Amiga developers. The add specifically mentions that Amiga Unix developers are needed. They're also taking resumes for Amiga OS developers and persons with Postscript experience. Too bad all these jobs are in Westchester!