[aclug-L] Re: Sun Box

["Greg House" <ghouse@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Carl wrote:


>On Thu, 9 Dec 1999, Bob_Deep wrote:
>
>> Depends upon what's actually in the box and if it's all in working
>> order.  Not having a monitor is not that big a deal (You can buy non SUN
>> displays that will likely work), but the cables and such are going to
>> set you back some bucks..
>
>Since Sun has this weirdo connector with multiple mini-coax cables plus
>the usual pins.  At least my Enterprise servers do.


Yeah, but there are adapters to use a std VGA monitor with that connector.
Some of the Sun boxes use a VGA monitor to start with.

BUT...why bother with a monitor at all? Run it as a server. Connect a serial
cable to the first serial port and use that with minicom from your Linux box
for the console. Then get it networked (with the 486?) and have some fun!

>> This is an *older* box and the performance is going to be a little
>> better than say a low end Pentium, so it may not be worth much effort
>> getting it working unless you want to play with Solaris or something...

If it didn't come with Solaris, a license is about $500. I wouldn't want to
buy one for something like that at home.

On the other hand, the Sparc 2, while outdated, can still be something fun
to mess with. I'd definitely try Linux for Sparq on it.

>But if you're interested in Solaris, it's available for the Intel platform
>for free.

Yep, Solaris X86. Costs about $10 or so for personal (non-business) use,
last I checked.

Greg