HP-UX: Looking for Opinions (I *know* you've all got them....)

[Joe Garvey]

In article <7637 at crash.cts.com>, lairdb at crash.cts.com (Laird P. Broadfield) writes:
> Here's the situation:  We're looking at acquiring a *ix system here, for
> evaluation (i.e. do we want to migrate our turnkey app.) and education 
> (i.e. all these DOS-heads need to be exposed to the real world.)
> 
> The front runners seem to be Interactive SVR4 (when they get their act 
> together and will sell it) and Dell's SVR4.  However, out of the pack
> we have a dark horse: HP-UX (funny, that sounds like what my dorm-mates
> used to say after about the 8th kamikaze....)

The following contains many strong *opinions*. I really don't care to see
rebuttels (sp?). Post your own opinions to help Laird out, without worrying
about me. If you're likely to be upset or feel an overwhelming urge to respond
please stop reading now.

I've run an HP-UX site for over three years... Though now I run a Sun site.
I'm also familiar with an SCO/Unix site as a user. Furthermore, I just went
through the analysis your just beginning. I wanted an engineering class
unix workstation.

I wanted a solid system, and after trying to configure a PC based workstation
with Interactive or SCO... I gave up. Support would consist of finger pointing
at the other guy because I had to deal with so many different vendors.

I finally figured out to run a PC/Unix system you had to:
a) Have lots of time on your hands, and never get frustrated even under
   extreme provication
b) Willing to settle for a 3rd party "bundled" system where they picked a very
   limited number of pieces and made them work together. If you're looking
   for an engineering class workstation, this method also looses its cost
   advantage. If you need a simple limited unix box to do one thing (or two)
   then there may be an answer here. I'm convinced the vertically integrated
   market is the majority of sales here.

Neither was for me.

Sun and HP essentially offer similar systems.

Sun sells more. Sun has more 3rd party software. Sun does very little to
smooth all the rough edges off unix. This is a better system if you're into
"netware" because more people create netware on it. If you're a very
good unix hacker this system works well. Sun hardware is cheaper to maintain,
and there are a large number of 3rd party hardware vendors (workstation
for that matter, Solbourne etal). One flaw, sun runs openlook, while the
rest of the world is going motif. Sun's management (in my opinion) is on
a childish ego trip. They've come up with "better" products several times 
only to be rebuffed by the market because of their overaggresive marketing...
it hurts since Sun's management is basically engineering oriented. I feel for
them, but I expect eventually they'll come around. Sun has developed a VAR
network so that small customers get some attention.

HP sells a very polished system. They've done a lot to fix lots of little
problems that vex a new system administrator. HP is working very hard to
eliminate Sun's advantages in 3rd party software. I beleive in  a couple
of years they'll succeed. As it is now, most major packages run fine on
an HP (except Bnews, expire doesn't work). They have a lower bug density
in their software than Sun. I would venture to guess, that the MTBF on
HP's software is quite a bit better. You'll here true stories about it
being too cold for the Sun to start or too hot. We cooked our HP, often
in a low airflow 90-100 degree environment. Never a complaint. But that's
the attitude HP has towards hardware. HP is very large customer oriented.
You can get their attention for a large single system purchase, but if you're
interested in a tape drive, you're lucky to get the time of day.

Both phone response centers work well enough. I haven't tested Sun's like
I did HP's. I sure HP is glad I switched... :-) I tended to ask many difficult
questions... but I found some real hard to find bugs too. I have a feeling
that Sun's response center isn't as well organized as HP's. Though I suspect
that I feel this way because Sun's is much more heavily loaded than HP's.

I neglected other vendors because I felt they wouldn't be major players
in the long run.

Sun or HP, it's a toss up. I would be happy with either.


-- 

Joe Garvey                       uucp: sumax!quick!johnny5!garvey
J5 Research                      map entries are wrong for johnny5. They're
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