Argh... Duh, is there free technical support? Roman -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Mark Weaver Sent: Monday, September 18, 2000 10:48 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [[newbie] Athlon thunderbird & ka7-100] My Gawd man! what'll they think of next? A Webless internet?? -- Mark ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ** =/\= No Penguins were harmed | ICQ#27816299 ** <_||_> in the making of this | ** =\/= message... | Registered Linux user #182496 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ On Mon, 18 Sep 2000, Carroll Grigsby wrote: > Ozz: > Actually, there is a Linux-based web appliance available now from N|C (I > think that's how they spell it). The only disk is a CD-ROM which > contains the OS and apps -- mostly Netscape with some plug-ins -- > Realwhatever, Flash and some other stuff. It's a venture of Larry > Ellison (of Oracle and Gates-baiting fame). Costs $400 delivered with 15 > inch monitor, mouse, keyboard and speakers. The Cyrix 266 mhz CPU also > serves as a space heater ;-). Other stuff inside includes 64 mb RAM, > internal 56K winmodem, onboard video, sound, and a small amount of flash > RAM for bookmarks, preferences and the like. I think there's also an > internal network card and a USB port. All this creature can do -- at > least as delivered from the factory -- is surf the web. One interesting > thing is that you aren't tied in to them for web access - you get to > chose your own from a list -- one free, several paid. The big weakness > with this is that the only way to get e-mail is through one of the > web-based mail services such as provided by Yahoo or Earthlink. > > Currently aimed at WebTV upgraders and other technically-impaired types > who don't want to deal with virii, drivers, and all of that other scary > stuff, I expect that their real target is large networks that would use > either server-provided applications, or who could compile their own CD's > with preconfigured installations. > > Before the flames begin (I can hear the AAAAARRRGGH's), it is intended > for a specific market -- one that does not include us REAL COMPUTER > PEOPLE. Well, that isn't entirely true -- while N|C doesn't do anything > to encourage poking around inside the thing, they don't fight it either. > In fact, there's a mail list aimed at propeller heads where a couple of > factory guys play colder-warmer. Achievements so far include (1) > installing a hard drive, (2) creating a new CD-ROM so that you can > listen to music while you surf, (3) installing an AMD K6-2 300 -- faster > and cooler, and (4) getting windows to run (I don't believe it either, > but the guy says it can be done, and we all know that if something is > posted on the web, it must be true.) > > Somehow, my wife seems to have gotten one, and she's let me play with it > a little bit -- the present rule is that I cannot have any hand tools on > my person. It ain't exactly the most powerful thing I've used, but it > does work pretty much as advertised. It is stable. And, if things get > screwed up, all you gotta do is shut it down, start it up, and > everything is back the way it was. Remember too, that they can upgrade > existing systems by just distributing a new CD. And there's lots of > empty space on the current CD. Hmmm... My impression is that it is very > much a WIP, but after a few iterations, who knows? > > Best regards, > Carroll Grigsby > > "Austin L. Denyer" wrote: > > > > > What do you mean by a diskless terminal? > > > > I assume he means PCs without hard drives. These can be booted either > > by floppy (not recommended for obvious security reasons) or by an EPROM > > on the NIC that greps the boot data from the fileserver. > > > > We had these at one of the sites I used to work at. When outside polite > > company we used to trade the first 's' in diskless to a 'c', which more > > accurately described them. > > > > Having said that, the site was running Windoze at the time, and Windoze > > sucked on diskless machines. Linux would be OK... > > > > Regards, > > Ozz. > >
