What I would add is that if you need to do anything on the local terminal,
option two is almost certainly out of the question. I have several xBSD
ultrasparc II{e,i} boxes here and the local video is terrible. Over the
network is fine (although with some machines the happy meal ethernet isn't
the best (SPARCengines...)), but local always sucks.

On 10/10/05, John Stalker <stalker@maths.tcd.ie> wrote:
>
> I am thinking of buying a 12-cpu ultrsparcII unit (E4500) for a
> couple of scientific computing projects I am working on. My OS
> choices seem to be
> 1) Solaris 8, 9, or 10
> 2) NetBSD
> 3) Plan9
> Option (1) is obviously the safe, conservative option. Option (3)
> would be the most fun. Anyone have any relevant experience? From
> ``the Various Ports'' it seems that I may need to fix up floating
> point support in the compiler. Am I likely to run into other
> problems? I can only expect to get away with option (3) if the
> performance is roughly comparable--say, to within a factor of
> two--with option (1) and if the amount of systems programming
> needed is zero or small. The main external library which would
> need porting is libfftw for the Fast Fourier Transform.
> --
> John Stalker
> University of Dublin, Trinity College
> School of Mathematics
>



--
The subject of this essay (the Myth of Sisyphus) is precisely
this relationship between the absurd and suicide, the exact
degree to which suicide is a solution to the absurd. The
principle can be established that for a man who does not cheat,
what he believes to be true must determine his action.
Belief in the absurdity of existence must then dictate his
conduct. It is legitimate to wonder, clearly and without
false pathos, whether a conclusion of this importance
requires forsaking as rapidly possiblean imcompre-
hensible condition. I am speaking, of course, of men
inclined to be in harmony with themselves.
<< Albert Camus>>