Misconsolled MIPS box upgrade

[Dmitri Borodaenko <angdraug@mail.ru>]

Hello,

I have got a MIPS box that has no real console interface, only Ethernet and
serial port. I have an old dust-covered Red Hat on it with 2.0.34 kernel and I
want to upgrade it, preferrably with pieces of Debian. Is there a safe way to
install a new kernel (without risk that if new kernel fails, my box will become
dead for ever) and to replace Red Hat init scripts with ones from Debian. Is it
worth the effort at all?

Thanks,

Dmitry Borodaenko <angdraug@mail.ru>