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Compile Farms for Commercial Software?

Posted by Cliff on from the for-unix-shops-with-low-hardware-budgets dept.

unix-coder asks: "How can a small software company get to 'rent' accounts for short times on a wide range of machines running different commercial Unixes with different CPUs? SourceForge's compiler farms are great for open source projects (and besides, open source projects will get ported/tested/fixed on all the platforms that matter to the people that use them). But what about commercial projects where you want to port/build/test for a wide range of architectures and OSes (AIX, HP-UX, IRIX, ...) but don't want your several server rooms full of weird hardware of your own?"

8 of 32 comments (clear)

  1. If SourceForge wants to make money... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    They should sell this service for closed source types. They've obviously got the know how to do it.

    Yes, making money! It can be done.

    1. Re:If SourceForge wants to make money... by dimator · · Score: 4, Funny

      making.....? money..... ?? VA!???

      are you visiting from some parallel universe?

      --
      python -c "x='python -c %sx=%s; print x%%(chr(34),repr(x),chr(34))%s'; print x%(chr(34),repr(x),chr(34))"
  2. Compaq (HP) Test Drive by mnordstr · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://www.testdrive.compaq.com/ might do the trick. Never used it though...

    1. Re:Compaq (HP) Test Drive by Malcolm+MacArthur · · Score: 5, Informative

      IBM have a similar (but more formalised) system for developers.See details here. However, I have no idea how much it costs - the costs might be prohibitive.

  3. Re:dumbass by daviddennis · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The fact that the license doesn't let you use it for commercial software.

    That seemed clear enough to me.

    I'd probably just tell him to buy the novel hardware. I bought a very nice Indigo2 for $400-odd a few months back, and it's a cooler experience to have the real equipment someplace.

    But that's only me.

    D

  4. Call vendors...ask for demo units. by j-turkey · · Score: 5, Informative

    You have a couple of options -- you could just call the vendors and tell them that you're a VC funded software startup and you want to evaluate thair systems. They'll send you a demo unit, and you'll be able to build on their systems (for a short time). Sure, its dishonest, but I leave the ethics up to you. You could also tell them the truth -- maybe some of these struggling Unix vendors would give you a free workstation (or a deep discount on one) if you're selling 3rd party software that will enhance their platform (though its a longshot).

    An alternative would be to start looking for ISP's who will sell you shell accounts on a month-to-month basis. If any of your employees are alumni of colleges and universities, some may still have accounts on legacy Unix systems...these may help too.

    The downside of using shell accounts on other folks' systems for building commercial software is that you run the chance of building on inconsistent environments. This can lead to a host of problems that you will not want to deal with.

    The final alternative is to go out and buy the systems (I recommend this one). It may be cheaper than you think...although the affordable systems may not be so cutting edge, I'd recommend eBay. There are tons of old SGI, HP-UX, Digital Unix, Sun, and AIX stations out there for very cheap...probably as cheap as a year's worth of shell hosting (and you'll own the machines). You'll also have the security of knowing that you're building on a "clean" environment.

    I hope this helps!

    -Turkey
    --

    -Turkey

    1. Re:Call vendors...ask for demo units. by aridhol · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Another advantage of using old hardware is that you will test your code on a low-spec machine. You will know that it is usable on a low-spec machine, and will probably fight software bloat to make it run on your own test machines.

      If marketing makes you add something, you can always make them run it on your test boxes, too. Show them why it's a bad idea.

      --
      I can't say that I don't give a fuck. I've just run out of fuck to give.
  5. Use machines at vendor's offices by gadfium · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is what I did about 10 years ago, when I was selling a program on many different versions of Unix.

    I bought the most common 386 unix versions (SCO Xenix, SCO Unix, 386/ix), and had one risc machine (an AViiON, since DG was my main customer base). If a user wanted an RS6000 version, I just rang my local branch of IBM, arranged a time to pop in, and compiled my latest code on a machine there. It cost IBM nothing, and may have sold a few machines for them.