From: rhodesia@wixer.bga.com (Felix S. Gallo) Subject: Re: X terminals: Suggestion for projects like SLS, MCC, etc. Date: Mon, 14 Jun 1993 03:39:50 GMT
mark@taylor.uucp (Mark A. Davis) writes:
>
>No, that is not the only question. You left off ease of use, ease of
>administration, reliability, etc... Besides, you are quoting rock-bottom
>clone stuff with questionable warranty, etc. Look at the monitor and card
>you quoted: low resolution, flicker, poor performance. Those are the kind
>of things I looked at before accepting Xterminals as real choices.
>
>The performance of the above setup (under X) will be twice as slow as the
>cheapest X terminal I could find ($875) (+$400 one-time for server).
Hey, everyone, Mark Davis, while a systems administrator, doesn't actually
understand X, Xterminals, or PCs.
1) "$400 one-time for server". There does not exist a machine capable of
running multiple X terminals over a net for $400.
2) "low resolution, flicker, poor performance." Over 130k X stones in
color at 15" is not particularly bad. Moreover, non-interlaced monitors
do not flicker noticeably at the sort of resolution given by an $875 X
terminal.
3) "ease of use." X is as easy to use on a PC as it is on an X terminal.
That's why it's X.
4) "ease of administration." Diskful machines are vastly easier to
administrate, as any first year sysadmin can vouch.
5) "reliability." Once well-versed in the PC architecture, repairs can
cost from $20 to $200 instead of $500-875.
6) what disks are Mr. Davis' phantom users using for their home
directories and to run X off of? Are they included in the price of
that phantom $400 X server?
7) what sort of network does Mr. Davis suggest I run 60 X terminals on?
Hint: I'm about to run 60 PCs with X on two ethernets.
8) what happens when the server crashes?
>(PS, you left off a mouse $50, boot roms $??)
9) reliable mice cost $15. Boot roms are part of the motherboard.
>Besides, nothing like taking a terminal out of a box, plug it in, configure
>in 70 seconds, and start using it...
10) if you really give a damn whether it takes 70 seconds or 1 hour to
start using a machine that will be in service for 3 years or more, then
there's really no point talking further.
> | Mark A. Davis | Lake Taylor Hospital | Norfolk, VA (804)-461-5001x431 |
> | Sys.Administrator| Computer Services | mark@taylor.wyvern.com .uucp |
God save Lake Taylor Hospital. :)
-- ============================================================================ Felix Sebastian Gallo rhodesia@wixer.cactus.org ============================================================================