Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 10:10:42 -0700 From: Sean Harding <sharding@gutenberg.uoregon.edu> To: Rainer M Duffner <Rainer.Duffner@konstanz.netsurf.de> Cc: Sean Harding <sharding@OREGON.UOREGON.EDU>, freebsd-newbies@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: What tipped the balance Message-ID: <Pine.SGI.4.00.9807291004320.4654-100000@gutenberg.uoregon.edu> In-Reply-To: <Marcel-1.46-0729031351-d07Zsav@duffner.konstanz.netsurf.de>
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On Wed, 29 Jul 1998, Rainer M Duffner wrote: > > My only (personal) FreeBSD machine is one > > that I built from used parts for under $300...Actually, that's my only > > If you spend that little on PC-hardware, you can't expect anything. > Really. I admin PCs at work (along with the Suns, SGIs and Macs). I know what good PC hardware is like. My roomies have better PCs too. They still suck. It is still crappy PC hardware. And my $300 machine has *no* more problems than any of the more expensive ones. It's just slow. And speed isn't what I'm talking about here. I'm talking about overall quality and usability. Everything from the cheapness of 99% of PC cases (yes, even the expensive ones when you put them next to something from a workstation manufacturer) to having to screw around with IRQs and in the bios. I am plenty willing to pay the extra $$$ to have a clean Sun on which I can get an "ok>" prompt, type "boot net - install" and install the *entire* OS from a CD that's in a machine in another room. Try that sort of thing on a PC. At the very least, you'd have to boot from a floppy or CD on the local machine.... > Sun hardware is IMHO almost unaffordable for non-corporate users. > SGI is even worse and there's little software for HP other then RDBMS > and some CAD-packages.... > The 'little extra' comes out as several 1000 (or 10000) $$$. Well, it all depends on what you are doing. When I want to get real work done and have the resources to do so, I skip the PC hardware biz and get something real. When it's for fun or on a low budget, a PC with FreeBSD can't be beat. I'm certainly not suggesting that home users go out and buy a Sun or SGI (though an older Sun or SGI can be had for $1000-2000)...I'm just saying that if you could, it would be worth it IMHO. Sean -- Sean Harding sharding@oregon.uoregon.edu|"It's not a habit, it's cool. http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~sharding/ | I feel alive." NeXTMail OK! | --k's Choice To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-newbies" in the body of the message
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