Unix Operating System on an PC XT.

[Kirtikumar Satam, ECE, UMASS Amherst]

In article <1990Jan18.035707.23357 at ncsuvx.ncsu.edu>, 
wall-rt at cscosl.ncsu.edu (Richard Todd Wall) writes:
>      I am currently interested in running a unix operating system on
> my IBM PC XT clone, and I would like some input from any fellow unix
> IBMers as to the best one to get.  
>      Here are some things I would like to have access to...
> 
>        1)  uucp with the ability to get news and send mail to other
>            unix machines.
>        2)  Have multi-user, multi-processing capibilities.
>        3)  Run a terminal off my serial port.
>        4)  I need one with a C compiler that can handle large files like
>            NETHACK.
>        5)  And one that will boot off of floppies and then only access
>            my second hard drive.  i.e.  I want to still be able to do 
>            MSDOS and not loose my data.
> 
	One UNIX that comes to my mind is SCO XENIX. I am not sure 
whether its 3.* versions are supported, but I have seen one XT box
with XENIX. But, mind you, the system is terribly slow and takes something
like 10-12 minutes to boot, while a 286 box takes 3/4min and 386 2/3min.
Again, on a long term basis going for XT for UNIX may not be a very
good choice. I feel that a moderately working UNIX systems should
at least have 286 on it.
	And yes, XENIX does give option of floppy booting. But, it
also allows DOS and XENIX reside on the disk simultaneously and
switching between them is just a matter of rebooting. Thus, it
obviates the need of what you want in 5) above.
	If you are interested in doing serious stuff on UNIX, then
my advise will be to invest in some good 386 box and go for either
SCO XENIX/UNIX or other 386-based UNIX ( interactive-386 etc) which
give DOS capability within these UNIXes. If you follow the newsgroups
comp.unix.xenix and comp.unix.i386, you will able to gather a wealth
of information before making your decision.

-satam
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Kirtikumar "Mumbaichaa" Satam
INTERNET : satam at ecs.umass.edu
BITNET : satam at umaecs.bitnet
217 Northwood Apts, Sunderland, MA 01375   Tel# 413-665-3222
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