[rescue] J90 on epay

[Dan Sikorski]

On Sun, 2003-03-02 at 22:07, OutBack Dingo wrote:
> Yes Dave and Myself have been discussing this also, we are both interested,
> though he has one, and I believe he has more of a use for it then myself.
> Though I want it anyway, yet it is probably more likely he will have a
> better use for it. My biggest concerns are actually the functional part,
> like getting it online. If it was complete, running id have gone for it,
> though still havent decided to not. I believe if Dave decides he doesn9t
> want it, I might be willing to pick it up, though we need to have this
> dicussion. I nobody says anything. Well go for it.

Well, i too don't want to pay $2000+ for a very large hunk of metal that
doesn't work, but i don't think that would be the case.  Realize that
the guy who listed this has absolutly no clue what it is and no clue as
to how it works.  It's a salvage operation.  If you went in there and
told him that it works (or doesn't work) he would believe you.  But you
probably already figured that from the listing.  ("I was told there was
a problem with the scusi interface hanging and causing a panic on the
motherboard.")  I would bet that it works just fine and was just
decomissioned.  Hell, it might have been taken down because the people
who knew what they were doing with it left, or the project that it was
used for was over.  Yes, it's still a gamble, but, $1500 seems like a
DAMN low price for it to me.

The thing that holds me back is the practicality of it.  So i get it and
it works, i can power it up and it runs.  Now what?  I've never been a
programmer, and i don't think that a cray would be the place to learn
even if i wanted to, and it's not like there's off-the-shelf software
for the j90.  I have ZERO practical use for this machine.  I'm sure i'd
learn a shitload about the machine and some about crays in general, but
i don't think that would get me anywhere.  I already have computers here
that i'm not using for anything, and i would hate to have this be
another.  But, god would it be a great project to get it going.

	-Dan Sikorski