On Sat, 26 Apr 2003 17:56, Chris Cheney wrote: > I also find it hard to believe that the majority of our users do not > have or can not purchase a system that is less than 7 years old. Being > that is how old the i686 sub-arch is... I once attempted to install > Debian 2.1 on a Pentium 90, it took many hours and was a pita to say the
There are also other issues. Currently it seems that Linux code does not get much testing on older hardware. I have a 2.4.20 kernel compiled with recent GCC 3.2.x that runs on a number of Athlon, P2, and P3 machines. But when installed on the single Pentium (non-MMX) machine I run the machine hangs within 6 hours repeatedly. I haven't tracked this down in detail (it's difficult when each test cycle takes several hours and it's a production server). But it's clear to me that something isn't working properly when compiling the latest kernel with the latest GCC for an older Pentium machine. My client (who routinely installs P4 Windows machines for their customers) is not too bothered about being forced to upgrade from a Pentium because of this, they plan to rescue a Celeron that one of their customers discards... -- http://www.coker.com.au/selinux/ My NSA Security Enhanced Linux packages http://www.coker.com.au/bonnie++/ Bonnie++ hard drive benchmark http://www.coker.com.au/postal/ Postal SMTP/POP benchmark http://www.coker.com.au/~russell/ My home page
