Gentoo
After months of not using my Sun Ultra 5, I finally decided to get it running again. I’m currently installing Gentoo Linux, which will probably take forever, since I’m going to go the compile route, and this computer isn’t exactly a speed demon compared to current computers. The last time I was in the middle of doing this, the power went out and I didn’t continue with it. My sister borrowed the 15" monitor I was using for it shortly after. But I have it in my room for now, so I can do this install. I mainly want a place to keep backups of things that are on krypton (especially my email, which goes back as far as 1996, although not as complete as the last few years). Once I get it booting without a monitor and keyboard and mouse, she can use it again :)
Of course, ideally, I’d like to be able to use it as a Linux workstation (not Solaris, I tried that when I first had the system, and hated it). That would require a spare monitor that works with it, and the space to put it. Right now, I keep my laptop on top of the Ultra 5 most of the time. Damn, the hard drive in there is loud. Also, I need to get another switch - all of the ports on mine are currently full, which sucks.
Time to let Gentoo do its thing, and check out del.icio.us - an online bookmark thing that looks pretty cool.
psi0nik said,
February 18, 2004 @ 11:16 am
i just stumbled across your blog. i’ve got an ultra5 as well, and after trying (and loathing) solaris 8 & 9, and then having gentoo kernel panic half-way thru emerge system, i installed openbsd 3.4, and haven’t looked back. i use gentoo on another box, and love it to death. i never retried the install on the ultra, and i was sorta itching to try a bsd. i also tried briefly to install freebsd5.2 and then netbsd1.6.1, but openbsd one out, and it’s really slick, particularly if you’re security minded.
Chris said,
February 18, 2004 @ 11:24 am
I do want to try out some BSD variant, but preferably on hardware that I’m already familiar with (x86) :) Don’t need to be trying to get both unfamiliar hardware and OS running at the same time. At the moment, I’m mostly limited by free ports on my switch, so I haven’t bothered to get a BSD box running yet.
I could very well switch to OpenBSD on the Ultra 5 later, I’m just messing around with it for now.
Currently, I’m starting the Gentoo install over, because I messed something up. That’ll teach me to just skim instructions…