I thought there were linux distros for SPARC... On Wed, Nov 26, 2008 at 5:35 PM, David Kaiser <[email protected]> wrote:
> Actually, the VAX, SPARC and (some) mainframe gear is quite PC > compatible. Does it use ASCII for serial communications? Does it use 8 > bits per byte? SCSI interface? Does it run on 120V AC power? > > I bet some of that older hardware could be coaxed into running Linux > quite well. > > > Michael Sokolov wrote: > > Hello again, > > > > Thanks for all the recommendations. > > > > It was reassuring to hear that older hardware will work fine, but I need > > to clarify something: due to my general dislike of the pee sea (PC) > > architecture, I have absolutely no, zero, zip, nada PC hardware already > > on hand, all our existing hardware is VAX, Sun SPARC or mainframe gear, > > nothing even remotely PC-compatible. Therefore, whether I go with new > > or used, either way I have to buy that PC or the complete set of parts > > for it somewhere. (The only exception is that we do already have a > > good Viewsonic monitor with PeeCee video input and PS/2 kbd & mouse > > which we intend to use for this workstation.) > > > > Which brings me to the following: if anyone on this list has any old PC > > hardware which meets the specs that have been discussed and which they > > would be willing to sell to us for a price less than what we would have > > to pay at a store for a new low-end system, let's talk. > > > > Chris Penn <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > >> A different strategy could be to build a box for speed. The functions > >> you mention are pretty basic and can be done on a windows machine, so > >> I say make a box that can do them waaaaay faster. > >> [...] > >> Maybe a decent video card for compiz if > >> she wishes she had a Mac. > >> > > > > Comparison with Weenzone/Mac is completely irrelevant in this case > > because the intended user of the workstation in question is my > > girlfriend who has already been required to give all that stuff up as a > > condition for our relationship. > > > > I have a policy that anyone who receives financial and/or emotional > > support from me (spouse, child, whoever) is required to use only those > > computing technologies which I approve on ethical grounds. Weendoze and > > MacOS are on the black list of prohibited stuff and so are GNOME, KDE > > and most definitely compiz or whatever the hell that is. If the > > spouse/child/whoever wishes to use Weendoze, MacOS, GNOME, KDE or compiz > > or whatever, they are more than welcome to do so, but in that case they > > must find some other place to live and some other means of support. > > > > > >> and a gigbit NIC. > >> > > > > Completely useless given that our office network is strictly 10 Mbps > > (true coaxial Ethernet in the data centre, 10BaseT going out to the > > cubicles). The outside Internet connection is SDSL @ 384 kbps serving > > as an ARPANET replacement. > > > > > >> You gonna go 64bit? > >> > > > > I would really prefer not to, just to make my sysadmin job easier. I > > hate admining modern Linux on pee seas as it is, I don't need the extra > > complication of however-in-hell does that Intel 64-bit stuff work... > > > > > >> [recommendations regarding software RAID] > >> > > > > Completely unnecessary because the PC in question will never have > > anything of any value stored on it. If the HDD goes up in smoke, we > > throw it out, stick a new one in there and reinstall Slackware. All > > valuable information is stored only on the mainframe. > > > > > >> [OpenOffice stuff] > >> > > > > We won't be using OO either, the company policy requires that all TPS > > reports be written in vi on the UNIX mainframe. > > > > As I've said, we need to put this PeeCee together to do web (Firefox), > > MP3s and video, stuff which absolutely positively cannot be done on the > > mainframe. Anything that can be done on the mainframe, regardless of > > how un-modern and user-unfriendly it is, is done on the mainframe. > > > > MS > > _______________________________________________ > > LinuxUsers mailing list > > [email protected] > > http://socallinux.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/linuxusers > > > > _______________________________________________ > LinuxUsers mailing list > [email protected] > http://socallinux.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/linuxusers >
