[H-GEN] Linux on an SGI Indy vs Linux on an SGI Indigo/Indigo2

[Stuart Longland]

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David Jericho wrote:
| [ Humbug *General* list - semi-serious discussions about Humbug and     ]
| [ Unix-related topics. Posts from non-subscribed addresses will vanish. ]
|
| On Thu, Feb 13, 2003 at 12:06:10AM +1000, Stuart Longland wrote:
|
|>From what I can find out, the Indy is the better of the lot for running
|>Linux.  I'm not sure how to install and where to get Linux for these
|>systems.
|
|
| Take my word on it, having an Indy at home. Don't bother.
|
| Linux on the Indy, while it works, doesn't support anything on the
| Indy you may actually find of use, such as hardware GL, or the VINO
| hardware.
|
|
Fair enough.  I'm completely naive on this point as I've never used an
SGI system.  We're looking at a RISC based system, a MIPS powered system
would be useful as we also have a Gateway Micro Server (aka Sun/Cobalt
Qube 1) with a corrupted OS, if the processors are compatable, I could
use the SGI box to build the tools to make a version of Linux for the
Micro Server.

|>We're currently looking at an Indigo2 as a small linux powerhouse, but
|>we're not sure how well it will run Linux.  According to the Linux-MIPS
|>homepage, there's no real support for the framebuffer devices in these
|>systems.  If this is the case, it's probably better we stick with an
|>Indy, or acquire a copy of IRIX from somewhere.
|
|
| The use of "powerhouse" to describe the performance of the R4[46]00 and
| R5000 series is akin to calling a Mini Cooper a "Stonkin' V8 mate".
|
| I obtained my Indy because it was a cute toy to play with, and a way
| of gaining IRIX experience. Other than that, it's not overly useful.
| For the same money I've spent so far[1], I could have easy built myself a
| decent spec PC with a good speed Pentium 4.
|
I think I can get the analagy there (I'm not a person who's
knowledgeable on cars - just computers, webdesign, etc) I understood
being a 64-bit
RISC, it would have a fair bit of grunt.  Maybe not that much grunt. ;-)
|>	Does anyone know where we could acquire IRIX from and how much it
|>costs?  (and if it's worth it)
|
|
| See above. If you're looking for another machine to do development,
| and you're not after any particular feature of the SGI Indy or Indigo2
| hardware, go a PC.
Fair enough, Does Linux support the video capture cards in the Indys?  A
bit of support for the multimedia hardware in these boxes would be
useful as I sometimes like to capture video, and there others who would
find access to such a machine useful.

| If you're wanting to use any particular feature of the Indy or
| Indigo2 platforms, stick with IRIX unless you're willing to burn time
| writing a driver for Linux.
LOL Well, I'm getting pretty experienced with Linux (I wouldn't say expert)
but I'm not that good.
| As for obtaining IRIX. I have a CD set, but I'm not sure of the
| legality to share the CDs around. Do SGI boxen come with a Right-To-Use
| license for the IRIX maintenance stream?
Yeah, typical closed-source.  I'll bet there priced for the corporate
market too.
| [1] I got my Indy _really_ cheap when compared to what people on Ebay
| are asking.
|

- --
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