System/6000 questions.

[voss at sunb6.cs.uiuc.edu]

	I am considering the purchase of a System/6000 Model 320.
Before signing away my life to IBM, I've got some questions, and this
seems to be the best place to ask them.  Feel free to fill my mail box 
<voss at cs.uiuc.edu> if/when you think the answers are not of general interest.
I'll summarize (indicate if you want to remain anonymous).

	The following questions assume generic AIX Version 3.
If additional hardware/software is required, please indicate where/when/cost.

1)  Will an RS 6000 act as an NFS server?  client?

2)  Does it support SLIP?  Compressed SLIP?

3)  How fast can you push the 320's serial ports?  (I'ld love 56 kbps [ISDN])
    (One at a time, or both?)

4)  Anyone using a USR HST modem with it for uucp?

5)  Is the 2-d Color Graphics Adapter really "optimal for X Windows use?"

6)  What GNU software has been/is being ported to the Rios?

7)  Compared with porting a BSD program to SYS V, or SYS V to BSD,
    how difficult is it to port programs to AIX?

8)  Does AIX support the BSD three R's, rlogin, rsh, rcp?

9)  What do you think of AIX in general?  (I'm a BSD bigot myself.)
    One person told me half jokingly:
	"throw out the best of BSD, and the best of SYS V,
	 what is left is AIX."
    What do you think?

10) Does AIX come with /usr/man/man* or just /usr/man/cat* ?

11) What troff/TeX support is available?
	Will I need a postscript printer, or will an HP do the job?

12) Will AIX (using tar or dd) write to the optional "150MB QIC Tape Drive"
    in a format that a SUN with a 60MB tape can read/write?

13) Are there second sources for RAM cards and simms yet?

14) Are generic external SCSI disks supported, or only IBM disks?

15) Are floppies the standard distribution media for OS & Applications?

16) Will the Model 320 use a clone AT/XT keyboard?

17) How many buttons on the standard mouse?
	(None of the pictures I've seen show!!!!)

18) Given a choice between buying a Model 320, and spending
    the same amount on some other workstation, what would you buy?
    (Why? Have you used one?)

19) What have I forgotten to ask before deciding to purchase?

				thanks a bunch, I'll summarize,
				Bill Voss <voss at cs.uiuc.edu>