[rescue] Compaq Proliant 8000

[Joshua Boyd]

On Thu, Apr 29, 2004 at 08:43:46PM +0000, Lionel Peterson wrote:

> That would limit the useful life of the "computer" to the useful life
> of the last OS ported onto it (assuming each new OS release required a
> new HAL - does WinXP still have a HAL, it is a single platform OS now,
> excepting SNMP-baby boxes ;^) 

Unless there have been major changes, exotic x86 servers will still
require custom HALs.  For instance, I find it a bit hard to believe the
high end Unisys stuff works with an out of box Windows 2003.
 
> > Not to mention getting linux, freebsd, or NetBSD onto the thing.
> 
> That would be a completely new port for the OS (not the userland goo
> outside the kernel), I suspect - putting a PC OS on an incompatible
> platform would require a significant effort (at the kernel level)... 

A PC OS?  You mean those OSs that already run on things like the SGI
320s and 540s, not to mention PPCs, Sparcs, and Alphas (plus additional
other platforms depending on which OS we are talking about).

In linux, compiling between a regular PC and a 320 consists of checking
a single option.