[rescue] Linux

[Greg A. Woods]

[ On Thursday, November 28, 2002 at 20:27:19 (-0500), Carl R. Friend wrote: ]
> Subject: Re: [rescue] Linux
>
>    OK, I'll risk becoming a pariah here, but I really think that
> the OEM's OS should be taken as part and parcel of the machinery.
> After all, it _is_ part of the historical "fabric" of any device
> one may collect.

Heh!  This group isn't just collectors and museum curators!  :-)

>    Sometimes, yes, the original OS can be maddening - infuriating,
> even - but that's a good chunk of what the system was like when
> it was new.  From the crowd here, and from the name of the list,
> I'd assume that there's a fair appreciation of history amongst
> us.

It's that "appreciation of history" which makes me want to get on with
things and run modern software on my rescued hardware.

If my SPARCstation-2 wasn't running BIND-8.3.4 and whatnot on NetBSD
then it would just as well be sitting in a museum because it would be
completely useless to me.

Replacing the hardware with what's available new would cost real $$$,
but replacing the broken old software is just sweat and hair-pulling.

I was reminded of this quite accutely last night as I was watching a
BBC/PBS co-production about the history of computers (I think the series
title is "The Most Amazing Machine").  The computer is of course the
universal machine, as Babbage, Zuse, Turing, Von Neumann, and many
since, have been eager to try to point out.  The software that was
shipped on the machine, even the operating system and development tools,
was just what one group of people thought of.  However the possibilities
are infinite.  It's making that old hardware do something new and/or
useful that makes me keep it turned on and running!

Anyway, I was hinting more at my own complete lack of desire to even
come close to "modern" Solaris-9 than anything else...  :-)

>    Aw, hell.  I'm rambling.  Happy Thanksgiving, all!

Yes, Happy Thanksgiving to all those of you south of the border!  :-)

-- 
								Greg A. Woods

+1 416 218-0098;            <g.a.woods at ieee.org>;           <woods at robohack.ca>
Planix, Inc. <woods at planix.com>; VE3TCP; Secrets of the Weird <woods at weird.com>