Subj : Re: unixs on a 386 To : David Drummond From : Charles Angelich Date : Tue Nov 27 2001 04:50 am 1233341fb421 unix Hello David - DD>>> Ah - great, if I'm allowed to use up to 32Mb RAM this DD>>> should be a piece of cake. CA>> I was joking (levity=joke). I realize that 32 meg would be CA>> great but I also know these were expensive ergo rare. DD> I just happen to have 8 x 4Mb 30pin SIMMs in my junk box DD> somewhere. Never saw a 386 that accepted SIMMS. I have been referring to an install into a typical 386, not one with 32 meg or gigabyte hard drives. DD>>> How about harddrive size - any limit there? CA>> Typical 80386s had under 200 meg hard drives. A 300 meg CA>> hard drive would raise eyebrows in those days. W31 was CA>> like 15-20 meg total installed size. DD> So, have you seen how much XP needs? No but then I doubt I will ever use XP here. 40 gig hard drives are becoming common lately. Is 40 gig enough for XP? --8<--cut CA>> The necessary source code and compiler would not fit on a CA>> 200 meg drive that already had LINUX installed on it from CA>> what I have been reading. DD> Most of modules will fit onto a 100Mb ZIPSlack install. The ZIPSlack install isn't one of those `trick' installs that is all compressed files. Does a Toms-root-boot trick to get going then mounts a 500 meg partition and uncompresses into that? If it is one of those it's not relevant to what the 386 will be able to do. DD>>> What unusual harware do you have in mind? DD>>> (BTW my garden sprinklers are controlled by very standard DD>>> hardware - the parallel printer port). CA>> The Radio Shack Color Computer was the test bed for all of CA>> that sort of thing. One of the Compuserve vice-presidents CA>> had a thing about those and wrote modules of software to CA>> control just about everything he could think of then gave CA>> the software away for free. DD> I adapted something (C code) I found on the Internet. Some of his stuff was in C. He used 0S9 towards the last. --8<--cut CA>> OBERON was created as a middle ground for those who would CA>> tackle languages like Perl but avoid compiled languages. CA>> It is supposed to be even easier than writing job control CA>> scripts. DD> Maybe, I think Linux skills will be of more use to me in DD> the forseeable future. Unfortunately you are right and that's the death knoll for many others that might actually be better or just more fun. :-\ DD>>>>> HUH? Even the Linux kernel claims to be 386 compatible. DD>>>>> THe hardware in the machines was standard issue DD>>>>> IDE/VGA/NE2000 stuff. CA>> I notice the phrase "claims to be" in that paragraph. DD> Not every machine is BIOS compliant. I've found 486s that DD> won't boot from the same Linux startup disks that a 386 DD> would. That's one thing I like about DOS. If you don't get too fancy it will boot up on just about any Intel machine ever built. --8<--cut DD>>> I got it working with the drivers included, even the Token DD>>> Ring network card. DD>>> That was quite some time ago too, CA>> If what I read on usenet was at all truthful, it couldn't CA>> have been too very long ago. DD> Four/five years... DD>>> the machine has long ago been dumped (so I cannot give DD>>> you a snapshot of it). CA>> I more or less assumed this was coming. DD> Can you give me exact details on how to make chain mail? If I had ever made any in my lifetime, yes I could. As a master mechanic I could figure it out though so that's not a fair test. DD> Some skills/documentation have been lost over the years - DD> especially in computing where the leading edge is surging DD> forward at such a rate. Mr Gates marketing department DD> contributes enormously to the attrition too. From my perspective people have permission to not dig very deeply into how their tools work and have less to `forget'. They never really did know how it all worked. Ask a W9x `expert' how some of it works and you'll see what I mean. Ask an old DOS user or CP/M user and you get some details. Not saying we all knew everything but you could have a more detailed discussion about very specific areas of an OS and people wouldn't complain it was too technical (way back when). DD>>> True, one does need at least one card to be known to be DD>>> working. CA>> You are the first person to agree with me on that. DD>>> One advantage of working in the IT dept at work is I have DD>>> plenty of methods of testing same. CA>> When I work with computers I am usually the most CA>> knowledgeable person present. The second most CA>> knowledgeable person can format a floppy. DD> Maybe you should join a user group? Seems they formed on the other side of Detroit and I would have had to pass through Detroit and back to get there. Not a good idea in the evening during winter weather etc. Haven't checked lately but originally I found none north of Detroit. Mabye I'm on the stupid side of town? > > , , > o/ Charles.Angelich \o , > <| |> __o/ > / > USA, MI < \ __\__ ___ * ATP/16bit 2.31 * .... DOS the Ghost in the Machine! http://www.undercoverdesign.com/dosghost/ --- Maximus/2 3.01 * Origin: COMM Port OS/2 juge.com 204.89.247.1 (281) 980-9671 (1:106/2000) .