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Hardware/Software Survey

Fred Seward presented the ASC reaction to results of the hardware/software survey sent to the committee, the Science Working Group, and the test sites. The statement that the ASC might not be able to support `extinct' machines was roundly criticized. Allyn Tennant said that the ASC should not judge which companies might go out of business, and Lynn Cominsky said that many in the community had old computers and could not afford to buy new ones. Steve Kahn remarked that if a GO proposal were approved, and if the presently-anticipated funding level held, she or he could buy a new workstation. He also thought it might well be cheaper to buy all users new workstations than to develop new software to run on all workstations. This is a cost decision that should be evaluated by the ASC and NASA.

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dmw@cfa.harvard.edu