[rescue] Whither Solaris 10

[microcode at zoho.com]

On Wed, Apr 29, 2015 at 08:09:55AM -0400, Phil Stracchino wrote:
> On 04/29/15 04:26, microcode at zoho.com wrote:
> > On Tue, Apr 28, 2015 at 08:33:01PM -0400, John Francini wrote:
> >> MIPS chips (or, I should say, the MIPS instruction set) lives on in Dell
> >> EqualLogic storage arrays, running NetBSD.
> > 
> > There are actual end-user laptops, towers, and minis running MIPS from
> > Lemote in China. They run Debian, a localized Linux-something, and
> > OpenBSD. I have a couple of the minis. They are the size of a paperback
> > book and have a 160G SATA drive, 512M RAM, gigabit NIC, 4 USB ports, a real
> > serial port, and HDMI. They also have onboard wireless and sound. They run
> > OpenBSD fantastically well on less than 10W of walwart.
> 
> 
> That's very useful information.  Thank you!

I immediately installed OpenBSD over the preinstalled Linux so I don't know
if wireless and an accelerated X-server are available on Linux. On OpenBSD
they are not, but sound works very well for both playback and recording. They
make wonderful tiny green headless servers and they run very respectably
given the 900+ MHz single CPU. (I should have mentioned that in my earlier
post.) The CPU is MIPS III+ meaning it supports the 64 bit MIPS III
instruction set and also has some proprietary add-ons- documented in
Lemote's manuals. As I understand it, virtually everything about the
hardware and software is open.

The service is quite good and the people are knowledgeable, friendly, and
honest. I had a drive go bad within warranty and after send them the smart
report they mailed me a new drive at no cost.

I've rebuilt all of OpenBSD (base and userland) repeatedly on these boxes
and they just run flat out, virtually silently, for days without any signs
of anguish. If I could buy a hundred of them I would find jobs for them all.

There are newer dual (and I believe quad) boxes available in other
formats. There are also MIPS rack servers available from Lemote for the
domestic market.

I'm enthusiastic about the company and products because anything that gives
us an alternative to WinTel is good in my view.

--