[TriLUG] Linux on a Sparc 5

[Ben Pitzer]

Matt,

Since no one else has mentioned it, I will.  I have an Ultra 5 and a
SparcStation 4, plus an Ultra 1 at work.  All of them run Debian very well.
Given the video constraints, I wouldn't recommend any of them as a desktop,
but they all work quite adequately as headless servers.  Putting X on them
and pumping out some applications via an ssh forwarded session is also quite
possible, and requires much less overhead than actually running an X
desktop.

Debian's Sparc distro is fairly up to date (in the testing, or Sarge,
branch.  I wouldn't recommend Sid, usually), and most Debian package
maintainers make Sparc compiled packages, or else processor agnostic
versions.  I have rarely found anything missing on a Debian Sparc box that I
wanted, or have on my x86 machine.

Incidentally, you call this a Sparc 5, I assume you mean Ultra 5, or is it a
SparcStation 5?

Regards,
Ben Pitzer

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

"Those that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
 --Ben Franklin--




> -----Original Message-----
> From: trilug-bounces at trilug.org [mailto:trilug-bounces at trilug.org]On
> Behalf Of Matt Frye
> Sent: Thursday, October 21, 2004 3:29 AM
> To: TriLUG
> Subject: [TriLUG] Linux on a Sparc 5
>
>
> I'm looking for recommendations on distro and what this machine could
> possibly be useful for.  Right now, it's just taking up space.  I have
> a monitor, kb, and mouse, and an audio cable even, so if anyone really
> wants this thing, I'd be willing to barter.  I just need to justify
> it's existence if I keep it.  Suggestions?
>
> MPF
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