IBM will support your old hardware almost forever.
They don't enjoy it, though - they have to stock a zillion old parts for a zillion old architectures, they have to train new guys on stuff that was obsolete before they got out of diapers.
They gradually crank up maintenance fees to "encourage" you to upgrade to new kit that is easier to support.
Of course, the association of poppies with WW1 isn't really a part of American (US) culture. We cleverly avoided that part of that bit of unpleasantness. The US eventually got dragged off the fence and into WW1. 120,000 men killed, 200,000 wounded.
Documentation being complete and detailed does not necessarily translate into easy to read and easy to follow for users less knowledgeable than a dyed-in-the-wool guru. Sure, but consider OpenBSD's target audience.
This is the main failing of even the best documentation I've seen out there. Not enough time is spent on step by step directions, and not enough time is spent discussing the ramifications of particular configuration options. Much of the time, the user is expected to already know what a particular option does...which obviates the need for documentation in the first place. You're totally correct, unfortunately this is also true for 99% of commercial software.
Writing good documentation is hard, that's why it's so rare.
No, it's worse than that. He said the *tapes* are 4 years old. They've been using the same *tapes* for backup for 4 years.
That's like playing Russian Roulette with your data. Once a tape gets that old you might as well not bother backing up to it at all. 4 year old tapes is more like Russian Roulette with 5 bullets and 1 empty chamber.
supports access via almost any PC with a serial port But those are getting scarce nowadays, on low-price PC systems and laptops. You can get serial ports on a PCI card.
Heating the ceiling with a light bulb is a terrible way to warm a room. There's a reason they place dedicated heaters close to the floor on outside walls.
Incidentally, I believe that one of the major European banks has a (profitable) department which analyses email pump and dump schemes and trades in the right way to profit from them. That's hilarious if it's true, do you have a cite?
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IBM will support your old hardware almost forever.
They don't enjoy it, though - they have to stock a zillion old parts for a zillion old architectures, they have to train new guys on stuff that was obsolete before they got out of diapers.
They gradually crank up maintenance fees to "encourage" you to upgrade to new kit that is easier to support.
That sounds like a great testing tool.
- a developer testing their app
- a sysadmin testing Vista against all the apps their users need, all the logon scripts, etc. etc. etc.
Writing good documentation is hard, that's why it's so rare.
Obviously before pulling the trigger on something like this you'd compile a CYA paper trail, and have at least one copy off-site.
That's like playing Russian Roulette with your data. Once a tape gets that old you might as well not bother backing up to it at all. 4 year old tapes is more like Russian Roulette with 5 bullets and 1 empty chamber.
but is a different way to stretch junk hardware.
Have you looked at Linux Terminal Server Project? Any old junk makes an adequate client, memory requirements are something like 64MB.
There's an there's an active LTSP community, including guys use it in schools: www.k12ltsp.org.
probability of ruining /home : very low /home : very high
/home lives on a server that's backed up every night, TYVM.
consequence of ruining
You do whatever you like, my
You forgot the substance abuse, and hopefully getting laid.
Yeah, that was Rolls Royce gear, and priced to match, which is probably why we don't see stuff like that today.
The full-tower PS/2 models had a great handle that folded into the top of the case.
Now that was a SOLID case, must have been bulletproof. Google tells me they weighed ~24 kilograms.
http://www.silicium.org/ibm/ibm/ibmps2mod80.htm
http://www.oldcomputers.arcula.co.uk/intl1.htm
I know one Canadian data center that uses the waste heat to heat the building during the winter.
They set this up in the mainframe days, but I'm sure today there are racks of Intel boxes next to the mainframe helping to heat the building.
Yeah, because there are soooo many Canadian ISPs to pick from in any given city.
I'm pretty sure there isn't a development platform anywhere that programmers don't hate.
Remember, all software sucks.
I'm guessing you don't live in Canada. I don't know anyone here who heats their house with light bulbs.
If you'll excuse me, I'm going to toss a couple more logs in the woodstove.
Heating the ceiling with a light bulb is a terrible way to warm a room. There's a reason they place dedicated heaters close to the floor on outside walls.
Ever played Planescape: Torment?
Do you suppose the US will be out of Iraq in 13 years?
I'll grant you the airdrop, but you can transport jerrycans of gasoline with any of the other methods.
If you can truck corn on site, why not just truck cans of gasoline for the generator?