From owner-freebsd-hackers Fri Dec 29 04:21:49 1995 Return-Path: owner-hackers Received: (from root@localhost) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.7.3/8.7.3) id EAA17389 for hackers-outgoing; Fri, 29 Dec 1995 04:21:49 -0800 (PST) Received: from relay.hp.com (relay.hp.com [15.255.152.2]) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.7.3/8.7.3) with ESMTP id EAA17384 for ; Fri, 29 Dec 1995 04:21:47 -0800 (PST) Received: from fakir.india.hp.com by relay.hp.com with ESMTP (1.37.109.16/15.5+ECS 3.3) id AA121269695; Fri, 29 Dec 1995 04:21:41 -0800 Received: from localhost by fakir.india.hp.com with SMTP (1.37.109.16/15.5+ECS 3.3) id AA092129534; Fri, 29 Dec 1995 17:48:54 +0530 Message-Id: <199512291218.AA092129534@fakir.india.hp.com> To: hasty@rah.star-gate.com, hackers@freebsd.org Subject: Lowend support! Date: Fri, 29 Dec 1995 17:48:54 +0530 From: A JOSEPH KOSHY Sender: owner-hackers@freebsd.org Precedence: bulk Hi Amancio and FreeBSDers, Something which was posted to this list caused me to sit up. amancio> The point that it must run on minimal hardware is debatable at amancio> this time tnks to Win95 8) Many are upgrading the systems with amancio> enough resources to run a multitasking operating system. Well folks, I can think of one place where the rush to upgrade hardware to run Win95 will /not/ be pronounced and that is here in India. I am sure there will be many places in the world which will share this reluctance. There are oodles of [34]86's here running on 4/8/16 MB (E)IDE configurations; cost is a major consideration and anything that will allow people to get their work done without forking out Rs by the shovelful would be greatly appreciated. As I see it, a window of opportunity is opening up: Microsoft is pushing Win95/NT and users are being forced to upgrade their PC software and hardware if they wish to run Micro$oft products. Now since a lot of work can still be done on existing hardware, an OS which allows the power to be extracted fully would be useful. I was hoping that FreeBSD would fit the bill nicely: it is reliable, fast, and the people behind it are the kind who take pride in their work. I do hope that FreeBSD will continue to work well on low-end configurations. What work remains to be done? I note that we don't support EIDE disks for example. In what way can we folks here help? Koshy -- My Personal Opinions Only.