Date: Fri, 16 May 1997 09:23:11 -0600 (MDT) From: Brandon Gillespie <brandon@cold.org> To: Curt Sampson <cjs@portal.ca> Cc: freebsd-alpha@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Alpha questions.. Message-ID: <Pine.NEB.3.95.970516091637.12610B-100000@cold.org> In-Reply-To: <Pine.NEB.3.93.970515162858.408q-100000@gnostic.cynic.net>
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On Thu, 15 May 1997, Curt Sampson wrote: > On Thu, 15 May 1997, Andrew Gallatin wrote: > > > > Basically, what I'm saying is please try to keep the low-cost alternatives > > > in mind. If FreeBSD was only available off the SRM console that means to > > > use FreeBSD you would have to pay an extra wad of cash... > > > > Right. $75 isn're really a wad.... > > Also, would there be any licencing problems if a vendor with the > disk used that to load SRM console on a machine before shipping it > out? If not, there's really no extra cost. Yes and no. DEC doesn't care who has what media, they just care that the license is paid in the end. So if a vendor pre-loaded SRM, they would still have to pay it somewhere (i.e. they would just wrap it into the cost anyway). Furthermore, its not that cheap! Some lucky sod may be able to get it for $75, or there abouts, assuming that the company they are buying from swung a sweet deal with DEC (which Aspen has :) However, usually you are looking in the four digits for the SRM Console. DEC may have made the Alpha which we all love and adore, but they LOVE to do one thing: charge phonomenal prices for trivial things. Also, there are some companies that have unknown/secret ;) deals with DEC in that they CANNOT PUT THE SRM CONSOLE on their systems. Call Enorex (www.enorex.com) and ask them if you can get a machine with the SRM console. They will tell you no, period, nada, not happening. This is because of a special deal they have with DEC which also has the side effect of getting them VERY LOW prices (and thus passing them on to you)--but they have to ``sell NT'' on every box (the guy said the Boot ROM actually couldn't change the firmware somehow, and thats how it came from DEC... dunno, coulda just been a sales rep's low knowledge :) -Brandon Gillespie
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