From: mark@taylor.uucp (Mark A. Davis) Subject: Re: X terminals: Suggestion for projects like SLS, MCC, etc. Date: Mon, 14 Jun 1993 12:59:30 GMT
rhodesia@wixer.bga.com (Felix S. Gallo) writes:
>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.
Hey, everyone, Felix Gallo, while an irritant, apparently doesn't understand
any of the concepts he blabs about because he has to continuously resport to
personal attacks.
The X server runs on the TERMINAL. You LOAD THIS ONE PROGRAM on the HOST.
The terminals TFTP it. You pay for it ONCE and will support as MANY XTERMINALS
as you connect to THAT HOST.
>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.
Right, show me. We are talking about price vs. performance vs. easy of use/
setup vs. etc... A Cray would have excellent performance, but it would not
sell in the price range.
>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.
We are talking about MAINTENANCE, SETUP, CONFIGURATION. You shold know
the difference between remote machine and remote terminal maintenance
costs.
>4) "ease of administration." Diskful machines are vastly easier to
>administrate, as any first year sysadmin can vouch.
You are really wrong. I have admin'ed both, and you are way out
of the water making that statement. No terminal comes anywhere near close
to the maintenance of a computer, period.
>5) "reliability." Once well-versed in the PC architecture, repairs can
>cost from $20 to $200 instead of $500-875.
Right, much more repairs at a lower cost. I would much rather have higher
Reliability.
>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?
They are running off the central host, as I have now said at least three
times.
>7) what sort of network does Mr. Davis suggest I run 60 X terminals on?
Multiple Ethernet channels (I would estimate about 4).
And I am *NOT* suggesting, nor HAVE I, that you should use X terminals
at all. There is a LOT more to consider; especially regarding the amount
of use, level of the users, etc. It is ONE solution that works VERY well
in many (not all) situations.
>8) what happens when the server crashes?
Again, why would the server crash? It is running on the Xterminal. If it
"crashes" (which I have not seen), the Xterminal would request the server
code from the host again and start running it.
>>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.
You can say THAT AGAIN. I am ******ONE PERSON******** doing ****ALL****
the computer work in this facility. My time is apparently a ***LOT***
more important than yours.
>God save Lake Taylor Hospital. :)
I am getting really tired of you personal attacks because you cannot discuss
matters rationally.
And God does not need to save Lake Taylor Hospital as far as information
systems- I did. We are now light years ahead of other similar facilities,
and spending much less. Now go annoy someone else.
-- /--------------------------------------------------------------------------\ | Mark A. Davis | Lake Taylor Hospital | Norfolk, VA (804)-461-5001x431 | | Sys.Administrator| Computer Services | mark@taylor.wyvern.com .uucp | \--------------------------------------------------------------------------/