On 12/11/14, 7:35 AM, Paul wrote:
On Thu, Dec 11, 2014 at 9:59 AM, Jim Lux <jim...@earthlink.net> wrote:
Linux isn't a whole lot better. If you have a system you cobbled together
in 2004
In the PPS via GPIO this is an issue and you don't have to go back 10
years. There's been a major change between (I think) 3.8 and later
kernels which makes some things much easier but breaks other things.
To be clear my comments aren't about
complex and subtle $10k lab instruments. They're specifically about 'my
two year old BBB doesn't work like my new one'. NTP servers are readily
done as a real appliance. Not a stripped down OS of choice box that is
hosting NTPD that someone calls an 'appliance'.
Maybe that's the key.. think of it as an appliance. If it stops working,
and it's not because of something simple (power cord), then you're
probably better off building a new one from scratch than trying to fix
the old one.
That is, the labor involved in "port to a new platform" might be
substantially less than "find old platform and install it in old box",
if only because things like tool chains tend to follow the latest hardware.
Even if you kept the tool chain for your old platform, running it on a
new computer might be problematic. (recognizing that there are people
out there running IBM 1401 emulators on System/360 emulators on... but
that takes time too)
Most folks don't try to repair their 20 year old toaster or refrigerator
or TV that has non-trivially failed.
I'm speaking as someone who just replaced a 17 year old refrigerator.
After 2 weeks of diagnosis and small scale fix attempts, the $2000 was
painful, but as it happens, the electricity cost of $200-300/yr is a lot
more than the $120/yr annualized cost of the refrigerator. The new
refrigerator has a *measured* power consumption <1/2 the old one, so if
it lasts 15 years (my observed typical refrigerator life expectancy) the
lower electrical costs will make up for the expense.
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