On Wed, 2003-01-29 at 08:07, Steven C. Darnold wrote:
> [...]
> It's not strange that views vary.  Even meat-eaters
> are welcome to discuss vegetarian receipes.  However,
> advocating meat-eating is not welcome.

Well, on a diet list, vegetarians should get used to the idea that
Atkins' approach is popular with many. There are varying ways to
use/define low resource systems.

> [...] I don't want to hear about your new machine.
> And I *certainly* don't want to hear you advocating that
> others should ditch their old PCs and buy new hardware.

But if someone's out to get into computers cost-effectively, it's worth
at least noting that a surv-class machine might NOT be cheapest in the
long run.

> [...]
> Sure Bob, go for it.  Start a thread on low resource computing
> and I'll join in.

Wait, wouldn't that be "jumping in"?

> [...] Did you know that a BL1
> installation (taking less than 20mb of HD space) can be
> used as a terminal for this?

Great! One "non-surv" machine can extend the usefulness of many
surv-class machines. I personally found the diskless configurations most
interesting, and K12LTSP provides several variations.

>  [...] Sure Bob, feel free to talk about any low-resource Linux.

Simputer, LTSP/K12LTSP, computing in remote locales and many other
efforts have been discussed here over the years. Not all are based
exclusively on old equipment.

> [...] I definitely like this idea (particularly in the school
> context).  Instead of the school ditching all their old
> PCs and installing totally new hardware, they turn all
> the old PCs into terminals (at no cost) and buy one good
> computer to serve them.

There's been a lot of interest in this topic locally, as unfortunately
our state government has botched school funding rather badly. Many
schools are finding themselves with no funds, or in the weird
predicament of only being able to buy certain things with certain funds,
while others go neglected. They may be able to buy a few (evil bad) new
machines, but still want to maximize use of existing, older (though
perhaps not quite surv) PCs. The other challenge for them -- their "low
resource" -- is technology EXPERTISE. They can't hire someone to babysit
systems, so are dependent on groups like the local Linux Users Group to
help out. They also very much have to make do with what's on hand, be it
disk drives, floppies, monitors and such. This always makes it a
challenge to do anyting of scale with any sort of uniformity.

> [...] No, what you are suppose to do is recognize that discussions
> of survPCs are especially relevant to people who are not as
> affluent as you.

Yes, ALL ASPECTS of survPCs are likely to be of interest, regardless of
cost.

> [...] This thread began when I said I was
> targeting BL2 at 8mb RAM.  Somebody then jumped in (was it
> you Bob?) and said that I should be aiming at 16mb RAM and
> the discussion spiralled from there.

It wasn't me that said 16MB. I think it was Charles (re: how many 8MB
486en). Search the archives to be sure. I put up a message with a new
subject. Someone else linked the two.

> [...]
> Was *anybody* looking for a source for 4mb 30pin SIMMs?
> I think not.
> [...]
> I never wanted those SIMMs.  Nobody did.

There was also a general discussion (Kenneth et al) re: using SIMM
adapters and benefit/cost versus using "real" 4MB SIMMs. I provided a
cheap source of the latter to contrast with the cost of the former to be
compared with the cost of outright replacement. I remembered the
discussion and posted a RELEVANT link. Sorry for not digging through the
archives to verify that it directly applied to you.

> I never said your message shouldn't have been posted.

You do jump into the netcop role though, especially with John. We've
been through this before.

> [...]
> Actually I agree that the name should be changed.  Since most
> of you guys have non-survivor hardware (and insist on talking
> about it), I think the new name should be:  PCchat.

Or you could start your own if you're going to get pissed off when
someone posts something that doesn't conform to your world view.

- Bob

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