Re: free software mini pc
Okay, just a few cents from me.....
I don't think you can ever rely on a machine having full main line
kernel support one day, still having it 3 or 4 years down the track.
The drivers change, some disappear too -- there is never going to be any
guarantees. The same goes for all sorts of packages that you might run
as well.
I had some small ARM machines which worked very well on Lenny, but they
are terrible on a very similar Squeeze install. As newer distros come
about and the Linux kernel gets larger and larger, there are all sorts
of reasons why an older machine won't be suitable without going for a
very custom setup with lots of thinning out of the kernel. Too much
work to do that.
In history, I remember a P133 machine being "quite powerful" and it was
at the time, try running anything recent on such a machine today and
you'll be so let down. You get more RAM on a portable tablet these days
or even a basic smart phone, forget about the processing power, hahaha.
Your ideal solution would be great, but it isn't likely to be fulfilled
and if it ever is, then I wouldn't think you'll get all that much
longevity from it.
Okay, now I'm going to do a simple car analogy thing -- not that
related, but hey, bear with me. My first Holden Commodore was a VS
Series II model. When I got that car, I was advised to buy the newest
Commodore I could afford (I already decided on a Commodore). After a
few years it suffered a transmission problem and it was too expensive to
fix, so I replaced it with a VT Series II. In time I ended up with my
current car, which is an MY10 VE. At every point, the newer car was
much better than the previous car in so many ways -- even though it was
still the same "basic" range of vehicle. I suggest you might take the
same approach with computer hardware, buy the best you can afford that
meets as many of your aims as possible today, understand it won't last
"forever" and plan for a replacement later, you are sure to find so much
better value down the track.
Heck, I may as well take this a little further. My Galaxy S i9000
mobile cost near $800 and now a brand new replacement of the exact same
model is available under $400, but the S2 is so much better and under
$600 with double the warranty [proper legitimate AU stock, not imported
from overseas with limited warranty and support]. Sure, my i9000 is
still good, but if I was to be buying a phone right now, I wouldn't go
past the S2 ... of course I have dreams for the S3 or maybe the Galaxy Note.
Anyway, back to the main point of this thread. I hope you find a
suitable device that matches your criteria as much as possible, or even
fully. But don't count on it lasting for more than a few years without
you pulling your hair out, hoping for a faster, better and far more
efficient device.
Oh and the raspberrypi with 1GB at $35 .... hmmm I don't think so.
Looks like a nice toy, but far too low in the memory stakes today at
256MB for $35.
Cheers
--
Kind Regards
AndrewM
Andrew McGlashan
Broadband Solutions now including VoIP
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