🚀 go-pugleaf

Nataraj M Basappa <natarajmb@gmail.com> writes:

>Hi All,

>  It might be dumb question for you folks who have been using SPARC
>for all along, I want to
>try SPARC hardware it will be my first venture into SPARC, i have been
>using Debian for quite sometime on x86 and plan to do the same on
>SPARC. I have done some groundwork on OpenBoot PROM (Program) and also
>some affordable hardware to get me started.

>My question -
>  1. Is Ultra 60 (2x450+2GB) a better choice or should i look for bit
>more (since i plan to do some web development work on this) and also

Ultra 60's are now becoming very cheap. In addition, they're robust, and
quite expandable in terms of RAM, PCI, etc. With general TLC (regularly
cleaning out dust, etc. and making sure the power supply always has good
airflow), the machine will be useful for a very long time.

>  2. Some layman comparision between this system and x86 system would
>be better (i used all my googling skills but in vain, but always leads
>me into spec.org)

To be honest, there really isn't any concrete way to compare an arbitrary
Sparc-based system with an arbitrary x86-based system. The CPU architectures
are completely different, the system board circuitry is different, and in
general the entire systems are nothing at all like PC's. Some are close
(such as the design of the Ultra 5 and 10 systems), but still very
different.

>  3. Are all components of the system supported under Gnu/Linux
>(specially display)

Most of the current Linux flavours that have good Sparc support (Debian,
Gentoo, etc.) will work just fine with a wide range of Sun peripherals
including framebuffer/display cards. Even the open-source BSD OS's like
NetBSD, etc. have plenty of support for Sun cards.

>  4. I would be buying with a CR-ROM support, does this systems boot
>from CD-ROM (i am asking this coz i read somewhere that you need to
>boot of a serial port to kick start OS installation)

Yes the Ultra-60 system board firmware supports booting from a CD-ROM drive.

Regards,

Craig.
-- 
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