Re: [tlug] Linux compatible motherboards

[Joseph Essertier <essertier@example.com>]

Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon wrote:

> Joseph Essertier wrote:
>
> > Anyway, I found User's Side's phone number just now and called them to
> > just see how easy it would be to get something workable from them.  It
> > doesn't hurt to ask, right?  They're going to give me an estimate and
> > info about what they could sell me in my price range.  If it's really
> > easy, and they cost just a little more, I'll probably buy from them.   
> Keep us posted on how that goes, because I'm still going to be in the 
> market for new equipment even if (when?) I get that old custom box of 
> mine straighted out.
>
> By the way, regarding your question about used boxes "Although one 
> thing I wondered before was in Japan don't you also have to pay a 
> sizable sum to throw the darn thing away?" - while I can't exactly 
> advocate it, some people break apart old equipment into small pieces 
> and dispose of the plastic bits with other plastic, the metal bits 
> with other metal, etc. in the regular trash.  The problem with this 
> route of course, is the circuit board, which contains some very nasty 
> substances for landfills.  Sometimes used dealers will take an old one 
> off your hands when you're buying another one from them, but not always.
>
> > My Japanese friends and family don't have as much tolerance for "waste"
> > as I do (=in this case if I bought a box and some of its functions did
> > not work, that would be defined as waste and failure. While such
> > "failure" wouldn't bother me at all.  I see such things as part of the
> > process.  But all eyes are on me, the "pioneer" or the "nerd" or the
> > "hen na gaijin."  Being a pioneer is not a big goal for me, but that's
> > how I'm seen.
> Ha-ha!  I know exactly what you mean!  I have family using Linux on an 
> old NEC (that has been running continuously for something like eight 
> months now, due to the boot-up problem I mentioned earlier with it 
> insisting on trying to boot from - and only from - the floppy drive) 
> and after the last upgrade from SuSE 9.1 to 9.3, I've become a little 
> nervous about making any major changes to that.  Use of my equipment 
> on the other hand, I definitely view as including some failures of one 
> sort or another.  But this is part of the allure of the multi-box 
> setup - with a dedicated test computer, I can fearlessly test 
> different versions of Linux, etc. on it and the outcome is irrelevant 
> to the other boxes in regular use.  But if you buy a stack of 
> computers, I'm sure your family will think you've gone crazy, so 
> that's not a good suggestion I suppose!  I myself look at my stack of 
> old machines and shake my head "What am I doing..." but they have 
> definitely be useful.
>
> > Some day I'd like to be able to have some understanding of
> > the individual parts of the machine and be able to replace or add parts
> > as needed.
> Now this is a very strong argument in favor of a custom box!  Standard 
> boxes from assembly lines are generally not very friendly towards 
> changing parts, and tend to have limited BIOS settings, etc.  If you 
> like customizing, then definitely go custom!  (If space is an issue 
> though, you can get tidier packaging with an assembly line box.)
>
> Lyle