[SPARCbook] Free OS summary for Sparcbook

[Miles Nordin]

On Wed, Jan 31, 2001 at 12:01:59PM -0600, sparcbook-request at sunhelp.org wrote:
> I have a 3G that I'm looking to put a Linux or BSD variant on.  I've read
> the FAQ, and am basically looking for advice - what do you run, does it
> work for you, have you gotten all the features to work, etc.?  

Linux and heat:

Linux continues to inspire me every time I brush with it, but sadly the 
Sparcbook news is moderately dismal.  It's not really a big deal, but 
here's the skinny.

Several people have netioned in the past, Linux is a very bad choice 
because it does not implement any power saving features.  You are not 
excused from dependence on this brokenness just because you're plugged 
into an AC outlet, because Sparcbooks get hot, and this makes their 
owners' legs uncomfortable, or frightens them.

Although no one has reported damaging their Sparcbook by running Linux 
that I know of, several are concerned about it enough that they point 
fans at their Sparcbooks while running Linux.  Then again, many of these 
same people feel the need to use fans while doing ``long builds'' even 
under Solaris---a feeling I don't share.

Personally, I don't feel a need to use a fan on my Sparcbook, but I 
would never let a friend boot Linux on it.

It is possible Linux has improved power management, but I have heard 
nothing to that effect.  If they told me they had improved it, I 
would be skeptical---I'd probably respond, ``okay, you boot it on 
yours first then.  [...] Nice.  That's good for you.''


NetBSD:

NetBSD has the necessary power management to get the serial ports 
working, X on the screen (8-bit only), ability to turn off the screen 
backlight (and, unlike Solaris, to do it intuitively:  xset s activate), 
and a partial implementation of the power saving features.  I have 
never used a fan with my Sparcbook.  I do ``long builds'' (of NetBSD) 
all the time.  For a while, the bulk builds of the NetBSD packages 
collection were done off Todd Whitesel's Sparcbook.

PC Cards, sound, ISDN, internal modem, hibernation, and /dev/bpp do 
not work.

I am much happier with NetBSD on my SparcBook than Solaris 2.6.  
It is faster, and has working compilers and a packages collection.  
Supposedly NetBSD can run Solaris binaries so you can use certain 
large buggy proprietary web browsers, but I haven't tried this.

NetBSD does not have ``less equal than others'' ports like Linux does.  
In fact, TNF made a big deal about rejecting CVSup as an official 
source distribution tool because Modula-2 isn't available on all 
NetBSD ports.  so, IMHO, NetBSD is always a better choice than Linux 
for a notPeeCee.  I suspect this opinion is highly controversial, but 
I am as convinced of it as the color of the sky.

NetBSD's emphasis on clean design means that the claims of their 
developers are usually well thought-out, so if they say they have 
a certain level of features or performance, I would trust them not 
to damage my equipment by over-boasting.


OpenBSD:

There have been positive reports of this on the list as well, but I 
don't have personal experience.  The port is probably based on 
NetBSD, since Open and NetBSD share code with each other a lot.  I 
would therefore expect it to be very similar, except OpenBSD 
emphasizes practicality or usefulness or market-appropriateness 
or something over NetBSD's imperative toward clean code.


BSDI:

Isn't there a SPARC port of BSDI now?  I always hear really cool 
stuff about BSDI now and then.