UNIX on Amiga 500?
Thaddeus P. Floryan
thad at public.BTR.COM
Mon Mar 11 17:11:52 AEST 1991
In article <1991Mar9.231842.20395 at jack.sns.com> jtanner at jack.sns.com (Jason Tanner) writes:
> A friend told me it is possible to run UNIX (Sys V) On an Amiga 500 since
>it uses a 68000 processor like an AT&t Unix-PC. This is an exciting prospect!
>Is this true? If so what company manufactures it?
The AT&T UNIX-PC (aka 3B1) sports a 68010 and a custom MMU.
Unlike the beliefs of those who watch Disney movies, wishing for something
will not automagically make it happen! :-)
You may be able to run a Minix port on the A500, but Minix is a far cry from
the SVR4 which CBM is offering on the A3000UX systems.
Back in the 3B1's heyday (1985-1987), the small systems were selling for around
$6,000 and the larger ones for around $9,000. In the latter part of 1987, the
model was discontinued by AT&T and the prices dropped dramatically to where
the large systems were around $2,000 (with full warranties, etc.) Software
for the 3B1 is upwards compatible to UNISYS' 68040-systems (UNISYS, formerly
Convergent Technologies, was the OEM for AT&T of the 3B1).
If you want an inexpensive UNIX (albeit SVR2+ with some SVR3 features), suggest
you check out the comp.sys.3b1 newsgroup where many full-featured 3B1 systems
can be found for reasonable prices. Many college students are grabbing these
systems ASAP, and even many members of the AT&T Silicon Valley UNIX Users'
Group have these models. Brand new ones are still available (see comp.sys.3b1
ref: Computing Horizons), and if you browse the 3B1 archives (uunet, osu-cis,
etc.) you'll find software contributed by some people presently on the Amiga
SVR4 port team! :-)
Thad
P.S. Not all sites are receiving comp.sys.3b1 yet, so also look for the
presence of the unix-pc.* newsgroups at your site if you're still interested
Thad Floryan [ thad at btr.com (OR) {decwrl, mips, fernwood}!btr!thad ]
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