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Which Unix (not Linux) for a PC?

Jorg

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Aug 31, 2003
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Switzerland
I have a nice dual Celeron board (Abit BP6- ahem barely vintage, sorry) around that I wanted to use to take a look at Unix again.

I worked with HP-UX some 15 years ago, but ofcourse have no vintage HP9000 around (would like though! 68000 ;) )

So I was looking into available unix systems that work on i386 architecture. I more or less found FreeBSD and Minix, but are there any other free ones?
As it looks I'll try FreeBSD, but who know more exotic things are around ;)..
 
I am very happy with FreeBSD. They have a portage deal with literally thousands of packages you can compile and use. It's murder if you have only dialup downloading those source files but great fun if you have faster access.
 
I am very happy with FreeBSD. They have a portage deal with literally thousands of packages you can compile and use. It's murder if you have only dialup downloading those source files but great fun if you have faster access.

Yep, I used FreeBSD for quite a while. I've been rather unhappy about it's progress the past year or so, and just decided to standardise on Linux. I have used Linux for a while longer than the BSD's, and know it a bit more intimately.

I suppose if I were trying to find a Unix-like OS for an older architecture, I'd more than likely go with NetBSD, due to it's support for almost every architecture known. As for building firewalls and secure appliances, you can't beat OpenBSD.

For my desktops, notebook and servers though, I prefer Linux (Debian Stable on the server, and usually Slackware on the desktops and notebook, although I have Xubuntu on them right now).

Just my personal preferences, YMMV.
 
Which UNIX for a PC?

Microsoft Xenix, of course.

For a very old PC, perhaps.

That reminds me. Back in the early 90's I worked part-time at the local Radio Shack (the first wife and I had split up and I needed the extra cash). I'm pretty sure the 386 machine in the back (which was the server for the three cash register machines up front) ran Xenix. I never got to really play around with it, just run the closing routines.

It was pretty cool though, considering the state of the hardware it was running on.
 
If it was a 386, it was PROBABLY either a SCO or Interactive version. If it was a model 6000, it was probably Microsoft Xenix.

For current machines, I too like Debian Stable (linux) or NetBSD.
 
If it was a 386, it was PROBABLY either a SCO or Interactive version. If it was a model 6000, it was probably Microsoft Xenix.

For current machines, I too like Debian Stable (linux) or NetBSD.

I'm about 95% certain it was a 386, so maybe it was SCO. I can't remember exactly what it was. We weren't allowed to use the shell prompt, only the menu system they had.

At least SCO had a decent reputation back then. I wouldn't take a modern version of SCO Unix if it was the last Unix on the planet.
 
Which UNIX for a PC?

Microsoft Xenix, of course.

Did Micro$oft every really sell Xenix for the PC? I know they spun off a lot of their exising work to SCO. Was the Xenix for the TRS-80 model 2000 from Microsoft? Did that ever ship?
 
years ago in the Patchogue library on Long Island (if that's at all relevant) there was a dark blue tome which would knock some of yer socks off. It had listings of all this freako off the wall software, scientific in nature, weird ass accounting packages. You wouldn't believe the stuff that WOULD run on a Tandy 2000 and whatnot. Lots of groovy freaky stuph. If anyone knows what I'm talking about, please speak up.
Again sorry to drift off topic, but hoser asked was XENIX for the T2K a Microshaft product. My guess is yes, but that book would tell you for sure.
 
Did Micro$oft every really sell Xenix for the PC? I know they spun off a lot of their exising work to SCO. Was the Xenix for the TRS-80 model 2000 from Microsoft? Did that ever ship?

I don't know about the PC, but yes, there was a version for x86. I used to have it on my Altos 686, which is an Intel 286-powered machine, but not quite IBM-compatible. The version for the Tandy 6000 was definitely M$.

--T
 
Just as follow up, I just installed a Pentium 200MMX board in my old IBM 5160 case, and I will be installing FreeBSD on it
 
Just as follow up, I just installed a Pentium 200MMX board in my old IBM 5160 case, and I will be installing FreeBSD on it

Hey Jorg, that's an interesting combo. Do you plan on using a window manager, or are you going to run FreeBSD from the console only?
 
Hey Jorg, that's an interesting combo. Do you plan on using a window manager, or are you going to run FreeBSD from the console only?

Well.. I thought it was nice to keep the 5151 monitor on top, so until now a old 8 bit Hercules card found its place in one of the ISA slots ;)
With that, no windows to start with.

I'm struggling a bit, I have 3 spare CD rom drives but one is broke, one to old to read the FreeBSD boot disk, and the other scsi that won't boot..
I'm trying all my 5,25 floppies at the moment to find one with ms-dos and cd-rom drivers...
 
Regarding the Tandy systems, it was probably Tansy Xenix. Remember, they had it as well. I believe it started with the Tandy Model 12 or 16b? The store systems were Tandy Xenix late 80's early 90's, a I recall. Wasn;t it a Tandy 2000 it ran on? The wierd boat anchor, with 5.25" 720Kb floppies?

Tony
 
Yup...

I have a copy somewhere, but I think one of the disks is bad. Has been for many years - just didn;t have the heart to chuck it out ;)


Tony
 
If you have a working network card (and a broad band connection), FreeBSD will do a net install very easily.

In the end I did get the scsi to work with a different SCSI card that supported boot from cdrom. But I did try the net install and indeed, that was *very* smooth.

The Pentium 233 MMX@187 Mhz runs FreeBSD 6.1 and has 192 mb ram.
Runs very smooth! (no X though).

Now I have to dive in to at and see what I can do with it.
 
Hmm, don't think I would want to start compiling source code on a 233 but if I did, the "portage" stuff would give you literally thousands of programs to play with. Hey, if I can download source code with a 26.4K cruddy modem connection, guess you could do some compiles. :cool:

Since then, I forked out big bucks for a Satellite internet system (Wild Blue). Too bad all those days and days of downloading has me totally burned out on BSD and Linux for now.
 
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