Re: Cheap hardware X-terms?

[Doug Loss <dloss@csrlink.net>]

Ray Olszewski wrote:

> At 03:28 PM 9/21/99 -0400, Doug Loss wrote:
>
> >>
> >I'm sure you're right about a local load of the OS and X-server, Ray.
> >Do you set these X-terms up to use DHCP to get their network settings?
> >If so, I'd think you could come up with a standard install that would
> >work on every machine with no need for local configuration.

> Ideally, you'd want an installer that fits on a floppy, boots, then accesses
> a server to get the rest of what it needs for a full install. Not hard to do
> in concept -- the rub it that if all the systems aren't standardized (they
> aren't likely to be if we're talking about salvaging used, donated
> euqipment), the installer has to be able to deal with different video cards
> (hence different X servers), different monitors, different NICs and settings
> (IRQ and i/o base), and varying amounts of hard disk space.
>
> Unless you can assume a standard hardware configuration, this soon starts to
> turn into an installation problem as complex as any standard Linux install
> (less stuff to install, yes, but the installer needs a lot of flexibility).
> The possibilities here are intriguing, though ... perhaps those others on
> the list who have done large-scale deployments of Linux-based XTerminals can
> comment?

Well, I haven't done that, but I can think of a few ways to minimize
the differences.  First, assume 640x480 resolution regardless of what
the different systems are actually capable of.  Next, configure the
entire hard disk as one partition.  Last, although there are many
different NICs, there probably is are settings that will work on all
of them (I'm thinking IRQ of 3 and I/O of 0x300).  You'd still have
to probe for the video chipset, but the rest might be standardizable.

Slightly different topic.  Has anyone tried using Linux to convert
old Macs into X-terms?  One of the parochial schools here has received
a bunch of old Macs that it doesn't know what to do with.  Assuming
I can get their permission and get Linux M68K (or Linux PPC, depending)
working on them, what are the chances of using them as X-terms?

--
Doug Loss            Always acknowledge a fault.  This will throw
dloss@csrlink.net    those in authority off their guard and give
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                        Mark Twain