Is it possible to migrate a UNIX program and use it in a NetWare or Windows 2000 network? I have a client that must have one of those two operating systems for the new program that they want. However, they've been using an older UNIX program for about 7 years and they want to be able to refer to it. It's got all of their data in it.

Of course the maker of the UNIX program went out of business eons ago.

If all you need is access to the old program, you can just utilize a telnet client to logon to the Unix box and run the program. The Win2K telnet works for the most part, but I much prefer PuTTY as a telnet/SSH client.

http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/

If you actually want to run the binary on the Win2K machine, you have a problem.

Yeah, I had a feeling that I had a problem. I knew that it would be easy to continue to access the UNIX machine using the method you mentioned, but their UNIX machine is a 486, it actually has pieces falling off of it, and they haven't been able to get the backup to run for 2 years!!!!! They really need to get rid of it. I would be glad to let them continue to use UNIX with a new server, but - as I said - they have this new program that requires a Windows or NetWare box. They also don't want to shuck out the money for two new servers.

So there is the problem. Anyone else with a suggestion?

Would a simple Linux box on a workstation be the answer? Would somthing like that be able to provide access to the program in such a way that the users wouldn't hate it? There are only about 20 people in the office who are using this program.

I confess to being a UNIX newbie, although I've connected a lot of workstations to existing UNIX setups.

Well hell, if the current box is a 486, then yes - just about anything will do. The thing you'll have problems with is getting the program to run on the new box. If it's statically linked, you may be able to run it on a *BSD machine, depending on what it was compiled for.

If you have source and/or installation media, you have a much better chance.

Whoa... No backups for two years?

I do not think that I would want clients that were not concerned about their data.

What form is the data in? Database, flatfile, some binary proprietary format?

Is it possible to extract the old data and convert it into the new format? I am thinking no because you have stated that the original creator of the program is long gone. This must be a modern replacement by another company that uses a different data format?

Question, questions and even more questions.

I was so jazzed on the two years without a backup, I didn't quote the last part of the previous message and went off on a tangent.

LivinFree is correct. Do you have the source code or installation media? What is the current flavor of Unix that the system is currently running?

You can go to Fry's Electronics (if they exist near you) and purchase a Duron 950 MHz bare bones machine (motherboard, case, keyboard, speakers and mouse. Onboard video and audio) for roughly $120. Not exactly big bucks. Throw in your memory, CD and HD and you are on the run.

Two of my co-workers ran out and got these boxes two days ago and plan to make *BSD and Linux servers out of these new boxen.

On a tangent:

Hey auswipe, let me know how well those barebones boxes work with BSD... I'd like to build one, but I don't know if the hardware is supported.