[SunRescue] IPC 24/200

[BSDBobtheoldgreybeardBSDfreakbobkeys at weedcon1.cropsci.ncsu.edu]

> >>A 400mb drive should be big enough to add in X
> >>with some play space.
 
> Serious question Bob, why X?  Can you "really" get anything done on a system
> this slow?  Or are you thinking have X and using it as an X-Terminal?  No
> Flamebait intended on this one.

Sure, .....  I use my slow sparcs for webservers, archive boxes, and ftp
servers mostly, and to write cdrom isos of development suites, etc.
Not very heavy use items.  I don't even try any serious development work
on them.  I run x only about 5% of the time on them, only as needed for
a specific instance.  I use native X on them.

I keep X on my servers so I can drag up some web pages mostly.  It is a
tad slow, but runs well enough to check things.  About like a 16mhz 386
box running X, it feels.  I would not use it for long-term X use, but it
does work well enough for an occasional thing like xdvi or xfig or a light
bit of browser (Netscraper sparc with the right libs added in) for hauling
in an http url filesuite, for example, with no ftp links.  It is really
not fast enough to be suited for cruising the web.

I use twm and not anything heavier, only keep a couple windows around,
and go light on icons and background ditties, to maximize speed, even
if it is slow.

> (Personally I've just avoided it out of hand on boxes this slow.)

Yeah, but sometimes I need it for minor things, and when I need it,
as long as it works, and I don't go to sleep, I don't complain too much.

Don't even try compiling big things from X.... .   .   .  v e d d y s l o.

Like I say, I don't use it much, but when I need it, it works fine,
albeit a tad slow.  Light browsing or running TeX xdvi or running a
small graphics package are fine.  Mozilla would kill it, rendering
in 3D would kill it, etc.....

> Just curious.
> 
> Mike Hebel

Bob