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Non x-86/Mac-PPC Workstations?
Aknaton asks: "As I begin to plan for my annual fall purchase of new hardware, I would like to try something different. I have already owned several PPC Macs running MacOS X and many PCs but they still leave me wanting more. I have begun looking for non-Apple/X86 alternatives but I am not finding much. SGI still makes machines but they don't even list prices. Sun offers the SunBlade 100, for just under a grand and it is a consideration. Can anyone else suggest, or know of, any other options? Or is it just a PC world after all?"
You can still find good HP-UX/PA-RISC and Alpha workstations. Even though they are both supposedly architectures that are heading to that great recycle bin in the sky. Some of the HP machines are really neat, and you never hear much about them because SUN pretty much owned the market. I'm not 100% sure on IBM machines, but their PowerPC chips are quite different to the ones you find in Apple boxen. You may want to take a look on ebay or wherever else you can get this kind of stuff.
Sure, you can get MIPS, SPARC, Alpha, PowerPC, StrongARM, or something even more esoteric, but what's the point? You'll end up running the same code, just compiled to a different processor. Despite the technical shortcomings of the X86, the processor can still run anything you can compile. Sure there are annoying BIOS issues. But when you come down to running real code, even most of the kernel code, it doesn't matter one bit what processor you have.
The new Amiga One hardware. This is was the subject of a previous article. Outside of the CPU, it looks to take pretty much standard PeeCee hardware, but it's PPC based and it runs Linux right now...it will run AmigaOS once the nextgen OS is completed.
Check out http://www.reputable.com. They sell used SGI systems. You can pick up an O2 or Octane for under $1000.
But my 6-year old son hogs it all the time to play Doom. =]
I don't know if I'd recommend it for a general workstation. I'm running IRIX 6.5.15, and it's as ugly as ever. Haven't loaded up gnome yet.
It all comes down to application support. If you're just wanting to run normal desktop stuff, forget it. Stick to x86 or Mac. But if it's just out of curiosity and a desire to learn, hit eBay and get yourself a variety. I've got VAXstations, an AlphaStation, a couple of SPARCstations, a NeXTstation, and the SGI. Not to mention the bigger stuff.. a couple of MicroVAXen and a VAX 6000-510. In all, I've spent maybe $1000 on odd hardware, and most of that was for the Alpha and the SGI. The rest were free or under $100. Ok, the VAX wound up costing me a bit for truck rental and medical bills after hauling around 80-pound hard drives, but it was still under $100. And the former owner bought me dinner for hauling it away.