Using UNIX to control experiments with a 386 box.

[Timothy S Sullivan]

The system: An Everex 386/20 with a CDC Wren III 165 MB, 16.7 ms,
ESDI hard drive, 2 MB RAM, ATI VGAWonder card, NEC Multisync 2A
monitor, 2 floppies.

The purpose: Primarily a single user system to control experiments
using IEEE-488 and a video image capture card (neither board
purchased yet). Secondarily to connect with an existing Sun network
over Ethernet (board also yet to be bought).

The angst: All of the above could be done under DOS with existing,
spiffy products, but I hate to see the potential of such a machine
wasted on a single process operating system. Besides, I like to
use UNIX.

The questions: 

1) Is there anything about the above configuration that would prevent
me from choosing SCO Unix or ISC 386/ix?

2) One of the big worries about choosing Unix is the availability of
device drivers especially for devices that don't have anything to
do with business systems. Does anybody know of existing device drivers
for IEEE-488 cards or image capture cards for either SCO or ISC?

3) For instrument control it would be extremely handy to have
real time extensions. VenturCom produces such a package for 386/ix.
Is there such a package for SCO Unix/Xenix? Does anyone have
experience with the VenturCom package?

4) Is it realistic to run X Windows as the window system for this
machine? Can one pop-up a VP/ix window under X (like one can under
Suntools on the Sun 386i)?

5) I expect to be doing a lot of C programming to automate the
experiment I'm running. Is there a big difference in the programming
environment between SCO and ISC?

6) Is this possible? Lets imagine that I can't find a device driver
for the image capture card, but that I buy 386/ix with VenturCom's
real time extensions. Could I write a program using the DOS device driver,
and run it under VP/ix and give it real-time priority with the
VenturCom extensions? (When I asked somebody at VenturCom about this
he hemmed and hawed quite a bit.) Is VP/ix a task just like any other
Unix task?

7) I consider myself a reasonably competent Unix user, but my
system administration experience to date has been to figure out
UUCP on a HP9000/520 and get it to talk over a modem to a Sun 3,
to add users and other minor things like that.
Am I crazy to consider getting so involved with Unix?

Thanks for taking the time to get this far. Any help you could
offer would be greatly appreciated. Please post responses to the
net if you think this is of general interest. Otherwise I would
appreciate Internet email at tss at lanl.gov .

				Tim Sullivan