Re: [9fans] Boot CD chokes

[vic.thacker@fastmail.fm]

On Fri, Dec 31, 2021, at 20:55, hiro wrote:
> what makes it enjoyable hardware? when is it classic? anything that's
> older than 10y or what?

 I suppose classic could be any x86 based computer system that came out about the same time as Plan 9 fourth edition. Someone once referred to Plan 9 fourth edition as being classic, so I borrowed the notion.

> it's surely fun to install plan9 on a hundred random computers and get
> lucky and have everything work. but that's just not been my
> experience.
>
> so instead i learned to be a little bit picky about the hardware
> avoiding having to write drivers for everything that doesn't work.

Having a used computer hardware store five minutes away which sells and buys old hardware makes the pain of trial and error less painful. If something does not work, just sell it back to the store. Intel desktop motherboards circa 2003 work very well. I recently purchased an Intel motherboard with CPU & CPU fan (1,000 yen),  video card (1000 yen), a 400 Watt PSU  (300 yen), a CD-ROM (300 yen), and 1.5 GB of RAM (300 yen).  A 1,000 yen is approximately $8.69 USD for those reading this. Also, I purchased a complete, working Dell workstation (2003) for 1,000 yen that works well as a terminal.  With hardware this inexpensive, my primary concern has been to ensure that I can back up and restore data. 

> just curious what kind of "classic" you're going for, i wasn't trying
> to chastise you. IDE isn't *that* old either. we have other people
> playing with pdp emulators.

Yes,  Dennis was kind enough to give me and another fellow working on the Simh emulator a copy of  8th Edition UNIX labeled TAPE.  Good times.

> in my experience with those expensive energy prices where i live the
> only thing expensive would be if you keep a lot of PCs running at the
> same time 24/7.

In Kanagawa prefecture (Japan) where I live, energy prices are expensive during the day and slightly less expensive during the late evening hours.  With three machines, firewall, and switch, running 24/7, the cost of electricity has been about 5,000 yen extra a month to run a Plan 9 system.  

There are many reasons why I find Plan 9 enjoyable. Every time someone asks, I seem to give yet another reason as to why. The cost of getting started, the return on investment, the challenge, the sense of accomplishment of writing a book with acme, helping others get their Plan 9 system up and running to name a few reasons. Also, I enjoy writing other Plan 9 users and asking for advice and coming away with the feeling of camaraderie between long-time Plan 9 users.  I've met a lot of great people along the way. Many of my friends (Plan 9 users) have since passed away, but the memories of them remain. I suppose using Plan 9 reminds me of happier times when I use it.

明けましておめでとうございます。
Happy New Year,

Vester "Vic" Thacker

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