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Unix Systems exhibition 84
Unix Systems Exhibition 84 Kelsey Kerridge Hall, Cambridge, UK, 19-21 September 1984
AT&T is at last making a concerted effort to promote and support U nix. But could this effort be too late to catch up on advances already made by Unix's many foster parents? At the joint European Unix Systems Users Group-/usr/group/UK exhibition in Cambridge, there was plenty of evidence of these advances. While Unix was generally agreed to be 'the way things are going', f e w o f the exhibitors were slow to agree that the system (and its Iookalikes) has its inadequacies. One of Unix's main problems is speed and the occurrence of bottlenecks. News of a solution to the problem was given atthe exhibition by The Instruction Set, a Londonbased firm whose primary operation is actually training rather than development. The Instruction Set's UnixAccelerator does not get rid of bottlenecks -- it just moves them to a place in the system where they are less likely to be met. The Accelerator will be useful in applications with a lot of disc accessing, because its main funcion is to speed up disc access. Compute-bound applications will not benefit much at all. Total commitment to the Unix operating system is the company line announced by GEC Software. The UK firm, which began operations in January of this year, launched a software communications link between Unix-based workstations and DEC VAX/VMS corn puters. The system is known as IP/TCP (internet protocol/transmission control protocol). It resides under VAX/VMS or Eunice, GEC Software's package for integrating VMS and Unix on VAX machines. I P/TCP supports DECnet and the new DEC controller (Deuna), which DEC's own Ultrix cannot yet do. DECnet (with Deuna) and Ethernet can be networked on the same board, using IP/TCP.
vol 8 no 9 november 1984
DEC itself was exhibiting at the show, introducing version 2.0 of Ultrix-11 and version 1.0 of Ultrix32 for the Micro VAX. The DEC/ Shell command language was also announced, providing an interface to VMS. The two components of DEC/ Shell are the command line interface and the Shell script language. These are intended for use with the 60 common Unix functions currently provided. DEC's aim is to provide a program development environment familiar to Unix version 7 users. Following in the footsteps of IBM (usually a fairly safe bet), Uniqix used the show to launch its Sprite range of microsystems. Like the IBM PC, the machines are based on Unix and the Motorola 68000 family of microprocessors. Supermicros got a good airing at the exhibition. Plexus Computers introduced an optional memory package to give its P/35 an extra 145 Mbyte. Intel announced three supermicro products, while Callan (a firm relatively new to the UK) gave the European debut of the Unistar 300 supermicro. Launched in the USA at the end of 1983, the machine is based on the Motorola 68010. A notable feature of the Unistar 300 is its ADA compiler, in line with recent trends in language bases. In all, an unusually large number of new products were launched at the show, probably because of its specialist nature: firms may have been encouraged to speed up or hold back release to coincide with EUUG because of the better attuned audience to which they were presenting their Unix-related products. The show hosted 63 exhibitors altogether. The high attendance and interest levels there, as well as the 470-delegate conference running concurrently, were proof positive that Unix, despite its shortcomings, is not just well established -- it is a still growing field for enthusiasts and newcomers alike.
Anne Browne
5f).1
AT&T is at last making a concerted effort to promote and support U nix. But could this effort be too late to catch up on advances already made by Unix's many foster parents? At the joint European Unix Systems Users Group-/usr/group/UK exhibition in Cambridge, there was plenty of evidence of these advances. While Unix was generally agreed to be 'the way things are going', f e w o f the exhibitors were slow to agree that the system (and its Iookalikes) has its inadequacies. One of Unix's main problems is speed and the occurrence of bottlenecks. News of a solution to the problem was given atthe exhibition by The Instruction Set, a Londonbased firm whose primary operation is actually training rather than development. The Instruction Set's UnixAccelerator does not get rid of bottlenecks -- it just moves them to a place in the system where they are less likely to be met. The Accelerator will be useful in applications with a lot of disc accessing, because its main funcion is to speed up disc access. Compute-bound applications will not benefit much at all. Total commitment to the Unix operating system is the company line announced by GEC Software. The UK firm, which began operations in January of this year, launched a software communications link between Unix-based workstations and DEC VAX/VMS corn puters. The system is known as IP/TCP (internet protocol/transmission control protocol). It resides under VAX/VMS or Eunice, GEC Software's package for integrating VMS and Unix on VAX machines. I P/TCP supports DECnet and the new DEC controller (Deuna), which DEC's own Ultrix cannot yet do. DECnet (with Deuna) and Ethernet can be networked on the same board, using IP/TCP.
vol 8 no 9 november 1984
DEC itself was exhibiting at the show, introducing version 2.0 of Ultrix-11 and version 1.0 of Ultrix32 for the Micro VAX. The DEC/ Shell command language was also announced, providing an interface to VMS. The two components of DEC/ Shell are the command line interface and the Shell script language. These are intended for use with the 60 common Unix functions currently provided. DEC's aim is to provide a program development environment familiar to Unix version 7 users. Following in the footsteps of IBM (usually a fairly safe bet), Uniqix used the show to launch its Sprite range of microsystems. Like the IBM PC, the machines are based on Unix and the Motorola 68000 family of microprocessors. Supermicros got a good airing at the exhibition. Plexus Computers introduced an optional memory package to give its P/35 an extra 145 Mbyte. Intel announced three supermicro products, while Callan (a firm relatively new to the UK) gave the European debut of the Unistar 300 supermicro. Launched in the USA at the end of 1983, the machine is based on the Motorola 68010. A notable feature of the Unistar 300 is its ADA compiler, in line with recent trends in language bases. In all, an unusually large number of new products were launched at the show, probably because of its specialist nature: firms may have been encouraged to speed up or hold back release to coincide with EUUG because of the better attuned audience to which they were presenting their Unix-related products. The show hosted 63 exhibitors altogether. The high attendance and interest levels there, as well as the 470-delegate conference running concurrently, were proof positive that Unix, despite its shortcomings, is not just well established -- it is a still growing field for enthusiasts and newcomers alike.
Anne Browne
5f).1