Ozz:
Actually, there is a Linux-based web appliance available now from N|C (I
think that's how they spell it). The only disk is a CD-ROM which
contains the OS and apps -- mostly Netscape with some plug-ins --
Realwhatever, Flash and some other stuff. It's a venture of Larry
Ellison (of Oracle and Gates-baiting fame). Costs $400 delivered with 15
inch monitor, mouse, keyboard and speakers. The Cyrix 266 mhz CPU also
serves as a space heater ;-). Other stuff inside includes 64 mb RAM,
internal 56K winmodem, onboard video, sound, and a small amount of flash
RAM for bookmarks, preferences and the like. I think there's also an
internal network card and a USB port. All this creature can do -- at
least as delivered from the factory -- is surf the web. One interesting
thing is that you aren't tied in to them for web access - you get to
chose your own from a list -- one free, several paid. The big weakness
with this is that the only way to get e-mail is through one of the
web-based mail services such as provided by Yahoo or Earthlink.
Currently aimed at WebTV upgraders and other technically-impaired types
who don't want to deal with virii, drivers, and all of that other scary
stuff, I expect that their real target is large networks that would use
either server-provided applications, or who could compile their own CD's
with preconfigured installations.
Before the flames begin (I can hear the AAAAARRRGGH's), it is intended
for a specific market -- one that does not include us REAL COMPUTER
PEOPLE. Well, that isn't entirely true -- while N|C doesn't do anything
to encourage poking around inside the thing, they don't fight it either.
In fact, there's a mail list aimed at propeller heads where a couple of
factory guys play colder-warmer. Achievements so far include (1)
installing a hard drive, (2) creating a new CD-ROM so that you can
listen to music while you surf, (3) installing an AMD K6-2 300 -- faster
and cooler, and (4) getting windows to run (I don't believe it either,
but the guy says it can be done, and we all know that if something is
posted on the web, it must be true.)
Somehow, my wife seems to have gotten one, and she's let me play with it
a little bit -- the present rule is that I cannot have any hand tools on
my person. It ain't exactly the most powerful thing I've used, but it
does work pretty much as advertised. It is stable. And, if things get
screwed up, all you gotta do is shut it down, start it up, and
everything is back the way it was. Remember too, that they can upgrade
existing systems by just distributing a new CD. And there's lots of
empty space on the current CD. Hmmm... My impression is that it is very
much a WIP, but after a few iterations, who knows?
Best regards,
Carroll Grigsby
"Austin L. Denyer" wrote:
>
> > What do you mean by a diskless terminal?
>
> I assume he means PCs without hard drives. These can be booted either
> by floppy (not recommended for obvious security reasons) or by an EPROM
> on the NIC that greps the boot data from the fileserver.
>
> We had these at one of the sites I used to work at. When outside polite
> company we used to trade the first 's' in diskless to a 'c', which more
> accurately described them.
>
> Having said that, the site was running Windoze at the time, and Windoze
> sucked on diskless machines. Linux would be OK...
>
> Regards,
> Ozz.
