Re: Anti-x86

Geert Uytterhoeven (Geert.Uytterhoeven@cs.kuleuven.ac.be)
Thu, 13 Nov 1997 15:33:43 +0100 (CET)

On Wed, 12 Nov 1997, B. James Phillippe wrote:
> I'm thinking about playing around with some of the less dominant
> linux platforms out there, such as PPC, AXP, Sparc or ARM. Why you might
> ask? Well, at the office Linux is the job. But at home it's the hobby,
> and I'm getting a bit bored of the x86. And Linux is all about fun,
> right! :) So, my questions are thus: I'm sorta leaning towards AXP, and
> possibly PPC. I've had some experience with AXP, and I'm interested in
> PPC just because the irony of running Linux on a Mac is quite tempting.
> What thoughts do you alternative-platform folks have on this? The main
> question of all though, is cost. Like Linus says, it's better when it's
> free. :) Well, in this case, cheap anyway. I do not at all need a
> haul-ass speed demon, just reasonable (P100+, for instance). Recycling
> components is an issue too, as I'd like to use as much as I can of what I
> already have (EIDE disk/CD, PCI AHA-2940 w/SCSI-CDU920S WORM, PCI S3 video
> and 3c905 ethernet, ISA sound card, ISA modem).

If you want to have fun with a PowerPC and do some real hacking, you can
consider this:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 10:26:54 +0200
From: Edmund Humenberger <ed@atnet.at>
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.development.system, comp.os.linux.hardware,
de.comp.os.linux.hardware
Subject: PowerPC 604e 233 Mhz motherboard avail! 800,- USD

Dear hackers!

CHRP Motherboards with 233 MHz CPU are available
for hackers now.

Linux does run on this board. For more infos on the board
and running Linux on it see

http://www.cs.kuleuven.ac.be/~geert/PowerPC/

If you want to get one board, please ask ASAP ed@atnet.at
I will place a bunch order with the manufactorer of the MB.

Please understand that Linux/CHRP is not yet for users.
This offer is for developers/hackers/get-kernel-diry.
There is not yet such thing as a distribution.

With this motherboard you can build a complete system
for almost half the price an Apple with the same performance
would cost :)

PS: The number of boards is limited, so: first come, first serve

yours ed

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's much faster than a P100, more like bleeding edge Intel.

Greetings,

Geert

--
Geert Uytterhoeven                     Geert.Uytterhoeven@cs.kuleuven.ac.be
Wavelets, Linux/{m68k~Amiga,PPC~CHRP}  http://www.cs.kuleuven.ac.be/~geert/
Department of Computer Science -- Katholieke Universiteit Leuven -- Belgium