[rescue] Classic Errata & Linux/BSD Observations

[Joshua Johnston]

I noticed a lot of stuff going on the OpenBSD thread about comparing the
use of Linux and BSD in more 'serious' roles than Linux usually finds
itself in, and I have to admit, I've been quite impressed with what I've
heard.  The flaming has been kept to a minimum, and I thought I'd chime
in with my .02.  In this group, in many ways, I feel like the new kid in
town even if I am 27.  But I'm pleased to say I don't feel like an idiot
at the same time.  In just the past few weeks of using my Classic (in
console or ssh even) I've been quite impressed with the solidity of
OpenBSD and would love to get more experience with the X end of things,
once I track down some RAM and the requisite parts.  If I could
miraculously produce a 56K modem for the Classic, I'd turn that into my
gateway rather than the Pentium 100.

Yes, I'm a dialup user with a full 5 port switch. Sad, aren't I?

The main point to this note, though, is to mention that I think *BSD is
probably the much better choice when compared to a generic Linux distro.
I have some experience with Mandrake 7.1 (Which I can't update easily at
-all-), SuSE 6.2 (Which was nice if you have decent hardware) and other
distributions going all the way back to MCC(!) and Slackware prior to
2.5, which is the only version number I recall from those days.  Linux
is great to tinker with, learn some coding with, and slap on the
latest-and-greatest stuff.  But yeah, it does appear that BSD is
probably best suited to being the workhorse, and I'm really, really
pleased with it on my Classic.

And speaking of my Classic, I've had a few folks in the past talk about
some hardware I might find useful such as keyboards, drives, and an
enclosure for my 8G full-height.  I'll be getting back to you folks
pretty soon, just had a massive lack of cash that extends until
Saturday.  I'd like to try and pick up another Classic or an LX on the
cheap, so if folks have any suggestions please let me know.  I know some
folks were looking at phasing out machines they have now, and I'd very
likely be interested.

Three of my friends have purchased Sparc Classics since I got mine, and
I feel quite pleased with this.  I'm planning to have my webpage about
restoring my Classic up pretty soon, but it's admittedly going to be
relatively light on details. It was just that easy.

- Josh