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HP Lets User Take Linux for a Virtual Spin
Jane Walker writes to tell us TechTarget has an interesting article on HP's new TestDrive program. For many small business owners this new site could allow for the benefits of testing many different platforms without having to make the investment up front. From the article: "The program, called TestDrive, is accessed online via the TestDrive Web site. It allows free-of-charge access to Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and Novell SuSE Linux and other open source operating systems like Debian, FreeBSD and OpenVMS. After registering with the site, each user is allowed 1 GB of space in which to work and is granted access to HP hardware housed at the HP Linux Expertise Center in Marlboro, Mass. Access to the system includes the use of 64-bit processors like Integrity, Alpha, and PA-RISC; and SMP x86 and Opteron ProLiant servers."
This isn't new per se; I used it several years ago (back when they were Compaq) to get to TRU-64, OpenVMS, and iPaq-based build machines for Linux.
Other than that, it's still neat tech.
As the former sysadmin of the Test Drive Program, I can say pretty definitively that Test Drive has been around for years - since before Compaq bought Digital, I believe. It's nice to see it mentioned, since I know the folks in MRO work pretty hard to keep it going. My admittedly biased feeling on the subject is that Test Drive is a pretty good place where anyone can go to try out operating systems and software on HP hardware to which they might not otherwise have access. They also make sure there are compilers on each system, so you can try our own code on other platforms as well. You can also check out the definitive list of current systems in the program.
I remember a co-worker signing up for this a few years ago, but getting kicked out in a couple hours. Seems like they don't like you using it for testing Seti@home...
I have to say that I've been pretty happy with HP lately – really nice to have a company supporting open source development efforts, you know? Right now I've got an HP box to develop an AMD64 port of my Linux distro – AMD64 3200+ with 512MB RAM, PCI Express, 80GB SATA disk – love the thing. Runs my system nicely, and dead silent too. Plus it was only $300 at an auction. Lucky me.
(As far as printers are concerned, on the other hand, not exactly thrilled with some of the newer DeskJets – I tend to be an Epson guy myself, the DeskJets tend to break too easily. Although then again, I still have yet to have any problems whatsoever with one of the original DeskJets, which I still use even today, despite it being older than I am. Runs like a charm.)
Creative misinterpretation is your friend.
300,000 unique TestDrive users, almost 60% have chosen Linux as their operating system for evaluating their business on Itanium hardware.
That's news to me. You might have known that, but I did not. That's a lot of people driving.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.