Baslinux mailing list

[sindi keesan <keesan AT sdf.lonestar.org>]

On Sat, 13 May 2006, Alejandro Lieber wrote:

> Sindi:
>
> Sorry the time it took me to respond.
>
> Why I use a 386 ? ........
>
> Why people use sails instead of motor boats?
Quieter and cleaner.

> Why people still like steam engines ?
I don't know any who have these.

> Why some like to have a Ford T ?
Or these.

> I think, it is to prove that still you can do a lot with old things.
My partner is putting together a small 486 to leave running all the time 
because it uses less power.  I thought maybe you wanted to use less power.


> In Argentina, Pentiums are not free, even 486's are sold.
I wish we could send you all our pentiums that nobody wants.  We have a 
700MHz one from a dumpster that had a bad video card and power supply.
The Russians write efficient software for DOS and linux to use on old 
computers too.

I got linux running in 3MB on a 386 but it was slow and we have all the 
pentium we could possibly use now, even two laptops that only needed the 
hard drive replaced.

We could also collect hundreds of free bicycles that nobody wants here.

> sindi keesan wrote:
> > On Thu, 4 May 2006, Alejandro Lieber wrote:
> >
> > > Sindi:
> > >
> > > Basic Linux without X runs nearly intantly  in a 40Mhz  386DX.
> >
> >
> > I have used it on a 386 laptop with 3MB RAM, but it is not as fast as on
> > a 486 or pentium, partly because of the slow LCD screen.  I forget
> > whether the FPU made a difference.  386 cpus run cooler and slower, so
> > we have kept a board for use with data acquisition hardware to be left
> > on all the time.
> 7>>
> > > I also run several DOS internet programs in a 20Mhz 80286 with 1Mby !!!!
> >
> >
> > I have DOS lynx (with lxpic for viewer) and arachne and kermit on a
> > computer with 3MB.  Kermit is happy with 1MB, as is netmail (mail
> > program) and agent (ftp program) and wget.  Lynx really needs the 3MB.
> > Netmail needs either a modem faster than 2400 bps or a hard drive on an
> > XT, otherwise something times out.
> >
> > I started with an 8MHz computer with 512K RAM and no slots.  Kept it
> > going for about 12 years.
> >
> > > Both much faster than this Celeron 800 running Red Hat 9, Ubuntu or
> > > Windows 98
> > > (all in the sameHD).
> >
> >
> > Redhat 6 took 5 minutes to boot on a 486 with 12MB RAM and another 5 min
> > to load X with a small window manager.  On our fastest computer at the
> > time, a newer Redhat took 10 minutes to load a wordprocessor, with 128MB
> > RAM.
> >
> > I was asking why you are using a 386 when pentiums are being thrown out.
> > Is it because they use less electricity?
> >
> > I like my Hercules video, it shows both underline and bold (in DOS, not
> > in linux properly) and is small and easy to read.  But unfortunately
> > many websites need more than 80 columns to see without scrolling.  So I
> > have two monitors plugged into linux and use both - the 17" VGA only
> > when I need video, or more columns.  I am in DOS right now with TTL.
> >
> > > Alejandro Lieber.
> > >
> > > sindi keesan wrote:
> > >
> > > > On Wed, 3 May 2006, Alejandro Lieber wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > I still use BL3 in a 386DX with 8Mby and hercules monitor
> > > > > No X.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Why do you prefer a 386 to something faster?
> > > > I also use Hercules monitor, it is easier to read, smaller, and cooler.
> > > >
> > > > > Alejandro
> > > > >
> > > > > sindi keesan wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > > I thought we had all our hardware under control yesterday but now
> > > > > > we have
> > > > > > a 700MHz dumpster find that only needs a quieter power supply fan
> > > > > > and a
> > > > > > non-stripy video card.  (They kept RAM and hd but left 2x cd burner
> > > > > > and
> > > > > > cpu and Live! card).  Our new cutoff may be 400MHz with 128MB RAM for
> > > > > > desktops, which is suitable for kernel 2.4.31 and a larger glibc, and
> > > > > > 100MHz pentium for laptops (16MB).  Is anyone still using a 486
> > > > > > with BL?
> > > > > > Perhaps BL should split into a desktop branch suitable for 200MHz
> > > > > > cpu and
> > > > > > 64MB RAM, and a laptop/floppy disk branch, with different kernels and
> > > > > > libraries.  BL4 for desktops with qemu package, etc?
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
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> > > >
> > > > keesan AT sdf.lonestar.org
> > > > SDF Public Access UNIX System - http://sdf.lonestar.org
> >
> > keesan AT sdf.lonestar.org
> > SDF Public Access UNIX System - http://sdf.lonestar.org
>
>
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keesan AT sdf.lonestar.org
SDF Public Access UNIX System - http://sdf.lonestar.org