Re: Why use an Alpha
Rich Payne (rdp@talisman.alphalinux.org) wrote:
> On Thu, 8 Feb 2001, Robert Martinovic wrote:
>
> > I've gotten to the point where I'm thinking of selling my Alpha. Why?
> >
> > * Mozilla doesn't compile (anything after M17)
>
> Really?...well I've been using the RPMs from RedHat (yes, I know it's not
> the same as having a .deb, but for him to make these packages it
> must compile) from http://people.redhat.com/blizzard/software/
I have been able to compile SOME of the nightly mozilla builds on
potato, but not all.
Hopefully something will be done about getting a better gcc for us or
hopefully gcc 3.0 happens sometime in my life...
> > * Support for Matrox Dual Head is so far non-existant
>
> Last I knew some of the Dual head code is dependant on a binary only
> library from Matrox. How much time have you spent talking to Matrox asking
> if they'll port this to Alpha?
ah.. last time I checked (and tried) X did dual head on Alpha just
fine with a pair of mill II's.
> > * Kernel 2.4.1 DOES NOT WORK ON UP1000 using the Debian method - the other method I haven't tried
>
> >From what I've seen 2.4.1 still has some issues on i386, nevermind a
> non-x86 arch. These things take time as it's a function of developer
> resources. How much have you contributed towards the development of
> 2.4? Also, what's the big rush for 2.4, which of it's features must you
> have that 2.2 can't provide? I somehow doubt that 2.4 runs perfectly on
> PPC,Sparc etc....as well. I can't speak to the debian packages as I'm
> running 2.2 on my debian alpha box.
I don't use nor recommend "the debian method" of making a
kernel. Instead I use:
make config
make boot
make modules
make modules_install
then all you have to do is copy the kernel image and System.map to
/boot.
> > * Do I need to keep going.
>
> Well if they are specific bugs in Debian then I'd say file them in the
> Debian bug system.
Yes, please do.
> > This is not a whine from someone not prepared to help.
> > It is a reflection on the situation we Alpha users, specifically Debian
> > Alpha users have to deal with. No support apart from each other and no
> > interest from anybody else.
>
> Who are you expecting to be interested? "No support apart from each
> other"?? I thought that's what community support was all about. Are you
> saying that you want a phone number to call, someone you can give your
> credit card number to? I'm not trying to be difficult here, but I'm rather
> confused by your comments.
I'm guessing he meant companies releasing products for Alpha
Linux. Some do, some don't. Applixware does (did?).
> > Who here agrees?
>
> Not I, I've found the Debian (and Linux) communities to be quite good at
> support.
I don't agree, but agree with Rich. The few problems we have are
usually dumb coding by people and can eventually be fixed. I don't
work for redhat, suse, or one of the other commerical distros. I work
for Debian and all my time is volunteer. If someone wanted to pay me
to work full time on Alpha, I'd be most happy to do so!
Ron
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