[Date Prev][Date Next] [Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]

Re: [VERY OT while waiting for Lenny?] reminiscing on old computers



-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

On 04/06/08 20:48, Douglas A. Tutty wrote:
> On Sun, Apr 06, 2008 at 06:18:51PM -0700, Andrew Sackville-West wrote:
>> On Sun, Apr 06, 2008 at 08:23:20PM -0400, Douglas A. Tutty wrote:
>>
>> so now we can twiddle our thumbs, go on random OT rants and rest
>> assured that lenny will be out any time. When's the next utnubu due
>> out? That always brings a few interesting ones. Maybe we should run
>> some more google trends charts? 
>>
> 
> We could reminise about my 486 that doesn't run Debian anymore.  I
> wonder if Lenny will run on my P-II or if that's another box for
> OpenBSD.
> 
> I remember my 386.  It was an IBM PS/2 model 70-A21.  It came with the
> then-unherd of 120MB hard drive, MCA bus, and I put 4 MB ram into it,
> running OS/2, IBM Fortran compiler (the reason I bought a computer in
> the first place), WordPerfect 4.?, and AutoCad 11.

Warp 3 was a wonderful OS.  Presentation Manager was *really* slick,
and formatting floppies while downloading a file at 14.4KBps was
something that Win 3.1 could only dream of, and Win93 could only
barely accomplish when the moon was full and the stars in proper
alignment.

DOS-based BBSs still mandated you have one PC per modem, but OS/2
was capable enough to run 6 or 8 modems at full speed.

> It died after two years.  That second summer was very hot and we didn't
> have air-conditioning.  The system-board cracked across like a
> cookie-sheet in the oven.  I don't know if the problem was the board or
> the plastic case.  Room temp was over 40 C with about 90% humidity.
> This happend just as I was entering the summer before final year in
> nursing and I was writing many essays and doing stats research (and the
> only one in the class doing it in Fortran instead of the stats package
> that required MS something).
> 
> I replaced the 386 with my IBM 486 ValuePoint 6492X5C, 16 MB ram (now
> 32MB).  This box still runs like a charm but gagged on Etch and runs
> OpenBSD just fine.
> 
> My P-II was given to me full of cat hair.  The people who gave it to me
> needed a box with USB.  I read the manual for the board and popped out
> the cover on the back of the case and lo and behold there are two
> functioning USB ports on the MB.  :)  The PSU is flaky, the CPU fan
> bearing is noisy (hostname= rocky, as in a gravel truck).  It does take
> large drives so is a good second box but it only has 64 MB ram and isn't
> reliable (too much heat damage?) to bother adding more.  Will it run
> Lenny well?
> 
> Any way, I wonder if any on-topic stuff has come up?
> 
> Doug.
> 
> 


- --
Ron Johnson, Jr.
Jefferson LA  USA

We want... a Shrubbery!!
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (GNU/Linux)

iD8DBQFH+YZhS9HxQb37XmcRAt3MAJ48TmsewhXrrcUhb41ey73GP6IKTQCgpkqv
rc5D+cKpYWa+Ss5ajA+424E=
=oQti
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----


Reply to: