news@daver.bungi.com (01/08/91)
I quess I am puzzled -- are pc532's really space headers or does
the dearth of message activity just make it appear that way ??
For a long time I said to myself: gee the pc532 group is kinda
thin on hardware gurus', but rationalized this by assuming everyone
must me a software wizards. Well at this point, I am beginning to
conclude that in general the group is comprised of consummers
( since gurus and wizards are generally producers).
On the other hand this conclusion seems at odds with the 'bootstrap'
nature of the pc532, and the amount of money people have invested.
Hmmm....
What's the scoop. Is the pc532 group primarily composed of
consumers or producers ?? If consumers, what is need to encourage
producers ??
best regards,
--
John Connin: manatee Orlando, Florida
UUCP: {uunet,ge-dab,ucf-cs}!tarpit!tous!manatee!johncian@sibyl.eleceng.ua.oz.au (01/09/91)
John Connin writes: > > I quess I am puzzled -- are pc532's really space headers or does > the dearth of message activity just make it appear that way ?? Well it was Xmas... > For a long time I said to myself: gee the pc532 group is kinda > thin on hardware gurus', but rationalized this by assuming everyone > must me a software wizards. Well at this point, I am beginning to > conclude that in general the group is comprised of consummers > ( since gurus and wizards are generally producers). Ah, but gurus and wizards often have other commitments (like real jobs) which is my problem (whether or not I qualify as either)! Ian Dall
rhyde@ucrmath.ucr.edu (randy hyde) (01/10/91)
>>>>>>>
I quess I am puzzled -- are pc532's really space headers or does
the dearth of message activity just make it appear that way ??
For a long time I said to myself: gee the pc532 group is kinda
thin on hardware gurus', but rationalized this by assuming everyone
must me a software wizards. Well at this point, I am beginning to
conclude that in general the group is comprised of consummers
( since gurus and wizards are generally producers).
<<<<
I wish mine were producing heat at this point! (Actually, I'm still
waiting for parts to arrive.)
I don't know about everyone else around here, but I bought my board
for two reasons: (1) I've always wanted at 32532 system. (2) I've
always wanted to hack around with an OS.
I already own a faster machine (a Mac II fx).
This is far from my first computer (I've owned about 20-30 over the
past 15 years).
I doubt I will be a producer of any sorts.
I would like to get ICON, SETL, FLEX, & BISON running on the board.
I also have plans to recode major parts of MINIX in 32532 assembly
to see if there is a performance boost that is worthwhile (I don't
give a damn about portablilty or even the problem of future upgrades).
Furthermore, I would like to put a second PC532 together and see if
I can me the file manager over to the second CPU to greatly enhance
the speed of the file manager (MINIX's design makes this easy).
In short, the PC532 is a great research vehicle for me.
It will also be the only machine I own capable of running something
that looks vaguely like UNIX (MS-DOS does *NOT* count).
This will give me an excuse to really learn UNIX (above and beyond
the basic stuff I teach my students).
Of course, dealing the the "diffs" around here is going to be a
challenge all in itself. I hope the current sentiment for posting
executable binaries takes off because I don't want to have to learn
all this stuff cold turkey before I get my machine to work.
BTW, is there a "designated floppy" drive that PC532ers have settled
on yet? Is there any kind of consensus?
Also, is there a reset line on the SCSI (XT) bus? (I'm nowhere near the
documentation now) If not, can we add this line to the bus on one of
the unused lines?
*** Randy HydeJim.Thompson@Central.Sun.COM (Jim Thompson) (01/10/91)
The guys that I know (personally) on the pc532 list are software gurus, and good ones at that... I, however, don't even have a parts kit, nor have I ordered one (yet). I guess I'm just 'lurking'.. (But then, I have two machines at home already....)
tbr@tfic.bc.ca (Tom Rushworth) (01/10/91)
John Connin writes: >I quess I am puzzled -- are pc532's really space headers.... Well, mine's not heating anything right now, but all my parts have arrived (thanks Steve!) and it will be R.S.N. I bought the pc532 to try out a machine oriented language for the '532, and that's what I've been hacking away on in my few spare moments. (A MOL is essentially an assembler with a high level language syntax. The '532 is just about perfect for this kind of language! Oops, gotta stay off that soapbox...) When (if) I finish it, it ought to make writing drivers and high performance code much easier. I guess the usual pc532 owners situation is that the machine is a hobby/casual/home machine and they just don't have the large quantities of free time it takes to do significant projects (hardware or software) in a short elapsed time. It also takes a fair bit of time to go from a running board to a running system, so not all the working boards are going to be at the producing stage yet. Give it a while... ---- Tom Rushworth (604) 733-0731 [FAX: 733-0634] | uunet!ubc-cs!van-bc!tacitus!tbr Timberline Forest Inventory Consultants | or: tbr@tfic.bc.ca