Okay, so I (mostly) pulled it off. My "white box" PC now contains:
Windows XP (SP2)
Linux (Fedora Core 6 .. a/k/a FC6)
Solaris (10 11/06)
I settled on using GNU GRUB 0.97 for a boot loader, which is what shipped with FC6 .. it's slightly ahead of the 0.95 flavor that's in Solaris. There's no Boot Loader option in XP .. aside from various freeware/shareware/COTS products .. i.e. not worth the effort tracking it down.
This was not without some miscues and one (near) PANIC! toward the end of this three-way, when something (I'm not sure what) flipped a bit in the partition table and marked the XP partition as "Hidden" (i.e. not bootable). After Google'ing for the error message ("autochk program not found - skipping AUTOCHECK"), then tweaking the partition table from another (running) OS, I can now boot any of the 3 operating systems.
As I suspected, FC6 looks/acts a lot like RHEL, so what I learn on one should be mostly portable to the other. I found myself online and browsing away about 15 minutes after starting the installation of FC6, not so with Solaris.
One remaining big issue: there's no network support under the Solaris installation - yet. Will it turn out that my gigabit Ethernet card isn't supported, or is this another "fit and finish" issue where the network adapter just wasn't enabled? I should know in a few days, after I get some cycles. I'll check the Solaris HCL and make a decision based on what I find there. If I have to buy a new adapter, I'll have to tweak the other two OSs (Linux and XP). Let's hope it's not that ... oy.
Monday update: rumor has it that if I'd read the Solaris How To Install Guide, my life would've been easier. Well, maybe .. but who reads documentation?
Showing posts with label Solaris. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Solaris. Show all posts
Sunday, January 28
Saturday, January 27
playing with software
Hmm .. have I done anything noteworthy lately? Hardly much to write home about.
I finally got around to installing Parallels Desktop on my Mac Mini, partly to play with virtualization software. I don't expect to run much XP software on the Mac, but it'll be amusing to play with it. The default installation is to set aside 10% of the Mac's disc as a virtual XP machine, so .. that's what I did.
Then (on a real XP box) I tried Secunia's Software Inspector which looks for the latest versions of certain critical XP software (SP2; Adobe Reader 8; QuickTime 7; iTunes 7; IE7; Media Player 11; FireFox 2; RealPlayer 10; Java JRE 1.5) and all checks out okay. It did a credible job, pointing out that I had old (insecure) versions ofMacroMedia Adobe Flash Player on my system - which have now been removed.
I've been using VersionTracker Pro for the past couple months, and .. while it's not perfect .. it does appear to do a credible job keeping my application software updated. Downside: their crippled demo version is complete junk.
Finally, I repartitioned another XP box so I can play with both Fedora Core (Linux) and Solaris. I found a copy of Partition Magic (currently owned by Symantec) at a good price and sliced the 120 GB drive in half, since so much of it was going unused. At this moment, it's busy uncompressing the download into a single DVD image of Solaris 10. Since I understand that Solaris GRUB doesn't play nice with Linux GRUB, I'll install Linux second and Solaris last.
I did want to try RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux) but quickly learned that those ISO images aren't available for free download - only for sale. How do I know I'd ever want to buy it if I can't test it first? And yes, I know that Linux is "free" but there are now hundreds (seriously .. 300+) of implementations, so I tried to pick something that would resemble one of the commercially viable flavors. I'm hoping Fedora Core will fit that bill.
I finally got around to installing Parallels Desktop on my Mac Mini, partly to play with virtualization software. I don't expect to run much XP software on the Mac, but it'll be amusing to play with it. The default installation is to set aside 10% of the Mac's disc as a virtual XP machine, so .. that's what I did.
Then (on a real XP box) I tried Secunia's Software Inspector which looks for the latest versions of certain critical XP software (SP2; Adobe Reader 8; QuickTime 7; iTunes 7; IE7; Media Player 11; FireFox 2; RealPlayer 10; Java JRE 1.5) and all checks out okay. It did a credible job, pointing out that I had old (insecure) versions of
I've been using VersionTracker Pro for the past couple months, and .. while it's not perfect .. it does appear to do a credible job keeping my application software updated. Downside: their crippled demo version is complete junk.
Finally, I repartitioned another XP box so I can play with both Fedora Core (Linux) and Solaris. I found a copy of Partition Magic (currently owned by Symantec) at a good price and sliced the 120 GB drive in half, since so much of it was going unused. At this moment, it's busy uncompressing the download into a single DVD image of Solaris 10. Since I understand that Solaris GRUB doesn't play nice with Linux GRUB, I'll install Linux second and Solaris last.
I did want to try RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux) but quickly learned that those ISO images aren't available for free download - only for sale. How do I know I'd ever want to buy it if I can't test it first? And yes, I know that Linux is "free" but there are now hundreds (seriously .. 300+) of implementations, so I tried to pick something that would resemble one of the commercially viable flavors. I'm hoping Fedora Core will fit that bill.
Tuesday, June 29
Silicon Valley peyote
(or, Tangent Heaven)
So, Sun plans to Get Rich Quick by selling (proprietary) Java Horn Tunes (vs Ring Tones) to teenagers for $5 a pop? Ring Tones are a fad; although they're a multibillion dollar business today, it will pass.
Yes, one of the first things I did when getting my new cellphone was download a ringtone, for $2. ONE ringtone, and not one a month; not only am I not that fickle, I'd soon forget which ringtone was mine. Ring tones have value because of the personalization; horn tunes have no such value (unless it's for the putz who pulls up front of Becky Bob's house and blows his horn, rather than ring her doorbell).
A lesson that soooo many people have not learned is that spreadsheets do not go forever .. eventually every fad will pinnacle.
What started me on this rant? Well, I spotted an article which exemplifies how out of touch the executives at Sun Microsystems are: Buy data service, get a free car?
Earth to Jonathan: people buy cars as reliable transportation, not as a platform to run Java (or whatever you're peddling at the moment). Forget the subscription model way of thinking; try offering stability to your customers instead.
I am convinced that every few years, Sun's execs gather in the desert to smoke some peyote, and emerge with a 1960's-era vision of how the world will come around to their way of thinking. Sun's "disruptive innovation" is simply Planned Obsolescence: lesson learned. Scott always had the desire to keep mixing things up, so the company doesn't get stale (like Wang or DEC or any of the Long Goners). While there's validity to that tactic, it sure would've been nice to go even one year without a major reorg, just to see whether that would have a positive impact on sales. Then again, selling computers isn't SimCity -- a laboratory experiment, where you have a quiescent/controlled environment. Even if sales had risen year-to-year, that doesn't mean it was because there was no reorg; it could've been related to hundreds of factors.
The Republican Party successfully peyote'd the population (during one of Reagan's terms); they convinced everyone that Democrat=Liberal=Bad .. and the Democrats are just now recovering from this Branding. I think this is partly a result of American Attention Deficit Disorder: we want everything in 30-second bursts and are annoyed when something can't be reduced to a Reagan-era sound quip [sic].
Note to Al-Qaida: beheadings are no longer shocking. We got over the first one, and the rest have (sadly) become "been there, done that" material.
Along another tangent: Branding [marketing] is so hard to achieve, and I was frequently baffled by Sun's Marketing (example: when they decided to jettison the Solstice brand .. Which was replaced by .. Nothing). I won't discuss the battle over Solaris branding .. no way.
I recall when CHMSLs (Center High Mounted Stop Lights - those red bulbs mounted at driver-height in a vehicle's rear window) first appeared. The thought was that they'd put an end to rear-end collisions. For awhile (until the novelty wore off) they probably did. I suspect that once we became accustomed to CHMSLs, their effectiveness wore off.
I never did believe in tailgating (repairing a damaged car takes too much time out of my day, so I don't get into accidents) but I watch a lot of drivers who tailgate, and dart from lane to lane, trying to get somewhere 30 seconds faster than the next guy. They are idiots, for the most part. Eventually, drivers will be graded and only allowed to be in the left lane if they have sufficient intelligence to be there (moving right when a faster car is behind, etc.). Alas, it's now time for my daily peyote smoking .. I will blog again tomorrow.
Yes, one of the first things I did when getting my new cellphone was download a ringtone, for $2. ONE ringtone, and not one a month; not only am I not that fickle, I'd soon forget which ringtone was mine. Ring tones have value because of the personalization; horn tunes have no such value (unless it's for the putz who pulls up front of Becky Bob's house and blows his horn, rather than ring her doorbell).
A lesson that soooo many people have not learned is that spreadsheets do not go forever .. eventually every fad will pinnacle.
What started me on this rant? Well, I spotted an article which exemplifies how out of touch the executives at Sun Microsystems are: Buy data service, get a free car?
Earth to Jonathan: people buy cars as reliable transportation, not as a platform to run Java (or whatever you're peddling at the moment). Forget the subscription model way of thinking; try offering stability to your customers instead.
I am convinced that every few years, Sun's execs gather in the desert to smoke some peyote, and emerge with a 1960's-era vision of how the world will come around to their way of thinking. Sun's "disruptive innovation" is simply Planned Obsolescence: lesson learned. Scott always had the desire to keep mixing things up, so the company doesn't get stale (like Wang or DEC or any of the Long Goners). While there's validity to that tactic, it sure would've been nice to go even one year without a major reorg, just to see whether that would have a positive impact on sales. Then again, selling computers isn't SimCity -- a laboratory experiment, where you have a quiescent/controlled environment. Even if sales had risen year-to-year, that doesn't mean it was because there was no reorg; it could've been related to hundreds of factors.
The Republican Party successfully peyote'd the population (during one of Reagan's terms); they convinced everyone that Democrat=Liberal=Bad .. and the Democrats are just now recovering from this Branding. I think this is partly a result of American Attention Deficit Disorder: we want everything in 30-second bursts and are annoyed when something can't be reduced to a Reagan-era sound quip [sic].
Note to Al-Qaida: beheadings are no longer shocking. We got over the first one, and the rest have (sadly) become "been there, done that" material.
Along another tangent: Branding [marketing] is so hard to achieve, and I was frequently baffled by Sun's Marketing (example: when they decided to jettison the Solstice brand .. Which was replaced by .. Nothing). I won't discuss the battle over Solaris branding .. no way.
I recall when CHMSLs (Center High Mounted Stop Lights - those red bulbs mounted at driver-height in a vehicle's rear window) first appeared. The thought was that they'd put an end to rear-end collisions. For awhile (until the novelty wore off) they probably did. I suspect that once we became accustomed to CHMSLs, their effectiveness wore off.
I never did believe in tailgating (repairing a damaged car takes too much time out of my day, so I don't get into accidents) but I watch a lot of drivers who tailgate, and dart from lane to lane, trying to get somewhere 30 seconds faster than the next guy. They are idiots, for the most part. Eventually, drivers will be graded and only allowed to be in the left lane if they have sufficient intelligence to be there (moving right when a faster car is behind, etc.). Alas, it's now time for my daily peyote smoking .. I will blog again tomorrow.
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