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Bane of the PC

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BobTheHob:

--- Quote from: piratePenguin ---If I had one of these not-Mac, not-PC computers... I'd more than likely want to get GNU/Linux on it.
Would that be a bad idea?

How much do these other computers cost anyhow?
--- End quote ---

The most graphically inclined ones would be the SGI's (MIP's platform). GNU/Linux and even NetBSD is mostly out of the question on SGI MIPs depending on which architecture the processor is. For example, my SGI O2 has a R10k proc so its not supported by NetBSD, If I were to have chosen my O2 with a R5k proc I could have run it. Generally, anything R1xk and up is out of the question atm. I wouldent even worry about that though as IRIX is just about the best made OS imo.
A bottom of the line SGI Fuel workstation will run around $11,000, as for the other MIPS workstation model the Tezro, I dunno the price, SGI likes to keep its prices as hush hush as possible, I'll ask around and see.

 SGI's depreciate quickly so you can get nice ones on Ebay for very good prices. Fuels can be found on ebay for the price of a highend gaming PC.

The older you go back in models the more drastically they depreciate.
The thing with SGI's is that they are so incredibly powerful that they remain useful for a very long period of time. My O2 is a 97 or 98 model i think, it is still great for me. You have to remember these procs are 64-bit RISC, and they have alot of cache alot of times. My O2's proc is an R10k with 1MB L2 at a whopping 175mhz, don't let the speed fool you, they kick ass pretty damn well. I should be getting my hands on two nice R12k 300mhz with 4MB L2 soon, at which point i will put one in my O2 and be off and flying.

Now another great platform is Sun SPARC, Solaris being the OS. Before some of you come talking about how crappy Solaris is, I'm willing to bet you only have experiances on the x86 version, I'm sure you wouldent be if you used the SPARC version. The PC platform does have alot of hardware choices, and personally thats why x86 Solaris is crappy. Imo, the best way to ensure a flawless system is to have a controlled enviroment, like where hardware is heavily documented, something not possible on x86. SPARC platforms can be alot cheaper compared to SGI as far as the bottom end goes. I don't have any recent prices, and frankly there are a hell of alot more options than SGI.

Siplus:
While I agree with some of your points, I think the success of Linux is primarily due to the fact that you can improve the usage of your computer _WITHOUT_ buying new hardware.

x86, while being technically inferior to the other mainstream architectures, has, in my opinion, a good cost/performance ratio.

I recently bought my first non-x86 computer. I can not determine the actual performance difference yet between x86 and G4 because there is the operating system barrier. When Fedora Core 4 comes out, I'll compare compile times or game benchmarks with 1.5ghz G4 vs 1.8ghz x86 (AMD Athlon 2600, actually). For now I do not trust the differences between SuSE 9.3 or FC3 and OS X.

The IT industry WILL NOT convert away from x86. there is too much investment in tact. If you want to strangle MS, you can't do it by cutting off x86; they can change processors just like Apple can (haha... please no extra comments. that's for another thread).

The only hope is either utter dominance by Apple, or incredible adoption of Linux (on x86). I'm not sure about the former, but I know the latter is happening

Aloone_Jonez:
BobTheHob,
I take your point about MS controlling hardware as they've managed to add extra keys to the PC keyboard back in 1995.

choasforages:
hence if you must go x86, go for the althon platform.....amd managed to license the dec alpha architecture.......now if only they mad a 3ghz dual core alpha...built from the ground up to be 64bit....wicked fast as well

piratePenguin:
Next time I want/need a new computer, probably in about 3 years, I might look at these 'other' computers.
Although, I probably wouldn't want to spend too much on it. Seeing as I built this PC for

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