[geeks] Disturbing Sun articles

[wa2egp at att.net]

> I've done drivers on linux (and some RTOSs), but I've never gotten
> around to trying on Solaris or NetBSD.  I have a new bit of hardware I'm
> working on a linux driver for at home.  I'm hoping to do drivers for
> NetBSD and Alsa as well when I'm done with linux.  I'm having trouble
> finding time to work on it, which is irritating because I bought the
> card solely because I happened to have specs for it and knew there was
> no linux driver.  But it was not a competitively priced card compared to
> some that already had linux drivers from Maudio.

> My best uptime is 548 days, but that is in a controlled datacenter.  I
> eager to see how far it ends up getting before something happens (such
> as replacement).

Well, I'm not paying for the juice to run it so....

> Speaking of the datacenter machine, I'm a bit troubled about what to
> replace it with.  Currently it is a V100.  I'd strongly prefer something
> SPARC, but 300 gig SCSI drives are still amazingly expensive (at least
> $250ea), and T1000s is the first 1U sparc that can take SATA, and they
> are still about $1500, which is more than I can see spending.  I also
> would like more speed and SMP, but to get SMP means at least a V210, and
> those don't seem to be much cheaper than a T1000 (well those plus 300gig
> SCSI disks).

My son and I picked up a couple of 300 meggers real cheap at a computer show,  If one works out of the bunch, it still would be a bargain.  Not something that happens all the time or could be a relable source. :)

> > Yea, patience is one requirement. :)  
> 
> Patiance, organization (work 5-30 minutes, wait 12-24 hours, then try to
> remeber to get back to it and where you were when you left off), and
> skill.  

I usually right down what I do in a "log book" so I don't lose track.  Saved my butt several times when I just can't remember how to do the simplest things.  Also nice to look back at my "learning curve".
 
> Obviously people are running a lot of the stuff I want on Solaris, but
> packages are being made and shared.

Would be nice to see some of it.  Just wish I could do it too.

Bob