What should GNU run on (was Re: wha

[ari at kolmogorov.physics.uiuc.edu]

Sure, workstations and PC's can get blurred in terms of sheer CPU performance.
But there are a lot of things that separate the two for my personal
use (not based on marketing etc.)

1) Operating system supported by vendor on machine -
	Certainly any IBM/PS-2 clone could support UNIX from a
	third party.  For my personal computer this is fine (it is cheaper)
	However for my workstation, I would like the two to be
	optimized for each other.

2) Multi-window environment supported by operating system -
	I could get X to run on my personal computer with UNIX.
	But again, I'd rather it was developed or at least optimized
	by the vendor for my workstation.  Also, high quality
	large monochrome or color displays cost money, and
	require good device to memory bandwidth.

3) High speed I/O and memory -
	I'll settle for micro-bus XYZ for my personal computer
	But I'd like a high speed VME bus, DMA etc. for my
	workstation.  I'd like  >327MB, <18ms disks too.

4) Networking -
	I'll need a modem and RS-232 line for my personal computer.
	But I'd need a Ethernet connection, network support software,
	etc. on my workstation.


Let's assume I start with "your average Joe" PC with a nice fast 386, and add
all the things it needs to be my workstation.  Well, guess what?
It costs as much or more than a decent workstation from SUN etc.
And I'll also be the only one in the world with this monster.
I wouldn't disagree that companies jack the price up on some of these machines,
but when you need the entire package, there are no real cheap routes.
Work for a company that gets volume discounts!:-).

ari

Aritomo Shinozaki				ari at kolmogorov.physics.uiuc.edu
Loomis Laboratory of Physics			(217)-244-1744
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Urbana IL, 61801