Redeployments (was Re: Can root mount a partition and allow users to write to it?)

[Anthony de Boer]

D. Hugh Redelmeier wrote:
> That being said, I do prefer P3 systems to P4 systems.  But "Core Duo"
> systems have been around for about six years.  I think that it's only
> worth redeploying post-P4 systems.
> 
> AMD machines are a little different: there are no bad AMD chip runs
> like the P4.  Even though there is no hard cut-off for AMD-based
> systems, I doubt it is worth redeploying any machine older than about
> six years.

I've been a packrat in the past, and ended up taking vanloads of gear
to e-waste recycling once I was *sure* it was past its usable date.

At this point, 64-bit boxes are Interesting as desktops or servers, while
late 32-bit era could still be usable if it's a nice box in a useful
niche.  But a lot of those niches can be filled by any of the low-power
offerings (WRT54GL, CuBox, Raspberry when they materialize out of the
vapor, anything ARM basically) for a lot less power if you pay your own
electric bill.  A Linux wireless router *with* a USB port could be an
interesting peripheral that doesn't need to actually route packets, and
could use an Arduino to do physical I/O.

> I still use an Athlon XP but would probably not redeploy one.  I do
> use the 5 PCI slots -- not a common feature on recent machines.

It can be an idea to keep a few functional older boxes: something that
does traditional SCSI, something with an ISA slot, floppy drive, wide
floppy drive, libc5 install, etc, basically so you have the right tool
if you need it for some retrocomputing rescue mission.

> I still use a couple of P2's, but would not redeploy one.

The rules of the game as I understand them is that it's not supposed to
be by my own doing when the presently-1380-day uptime run finally ends.
But I anticipate my relationship with the P2 architecture doesn't need
to continue past that.

-- 
Anthony de Boer
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