Date: Thu, 25 Feb 1999 15:12:10 -0700 From: Wes Peters <wes@softweyr.com> To: Chris Coleman <chris@bbcc.ctc.edu>, Fritz Fitzgibbons <fitzgfri@gateway.com> Cc: freebsd-advocacy@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Focus on the solution Message-ID: <36D5CABA.56D01C13@softweyr.com> References: <Pine.BSF.3.96.990225132139.1090A-100000@bbcc.ctc.edu>
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Mr. Fitzgibbons, In a recent email conversation with Chris Coleman, he mentioned that you are coordinating the efforts to certify Gateway equipment with the FreeBSD operating system, or vice versa. In the portion of the conversation included below, Chris mentioned that you might want to hear about current Gateway machines running FreeBSD: Chris Coleman wrote: > > The plan: > Advertise that Gateway is seeking FreeBSD Certification. > Advertise that Gateway is entertaining the idea of shipping FreeBSD. > Create enough demand that the big wigs notice. > Let gateway know we are using FreeBSD with Gateway. > > My contact is Fritz Fitzgibbons <fitzgfri@gateway.com> He is collecting > all e-mail regarding FreeBSD with Gateway and forwarding them on. > > So, what can you do? > > If you use FreeBSD with a gateway computer, write down the model and > configuration and e-mail to fitzgfri@gateway.com. Tell him that you are > currently using FreeBSD with Gateway and would like to see it become > a standard option. I have such a machine; I've even written an article about it in the Jan issue of Daemon News, an ezine that covers the BSD operating systems. Please read this column, A Remote Chance, if you wish: http://www.daemonnews.org/199901/freeras.html This machine covered in the article is a Gateway G6-200, with all original equipment except the hard disk, which was replaced due to failure midway through my adventure configuring the machine. It has been very reliable; we have had no problems with it at all. It is currently configured with 64MB EDO RAM, Adaptec 2940UW SCSI controller, a VGA card, all stock from Gateway. To this I have added an IBM 4.3GB UW SCSI drive to replace the original Seagate, a Boca 2-port serial card with 16650 UARTs, two USRobotics Sportster 33.6K modems on the stock serial ports, and two 3Com Impact IQ ISDN TAs on the Boca serial ports. Other than hardware upgrades, the machine has been up and running continuously, 24x7, since late October, and we have had no problems with it at all. It serves as a dial-up server for up to 4 remote users, a disk server via NFS and Samba, and a print server via lpd and Samba. Given my experience with this machine, I would recommend such a Gateway system again with no qualms. I have also in the past configured a pair of Gateway Solo notebooks as portable software development machines for a previous employer, running FreeBSD. Both machines performed well, though one had a small problem with the mousepad -- if you rested your hands on the hand rests or mousepad during boot, the mousepad would not be recognized. Booting hands off was always successful, so we simply place a warning sign on the machine. Both laptops were quiet, reliable, and nearly as fast as our HP workstations for development work. They were quite popular with engineers on the road, as they weighed a LOT less than a desktop workstation with a 21" monitor. ;^) Thank you for considering FreeBSD. We have a good, fast, reliable system here, and feel you will serve your customers well to offer FreeBSD as an option on your servers, desktops, and laptops. -- Where am I, and what am I doing in this handbasket? Wes Peters +1.801.915.2061 Softweyr LLC wes@softweyr.com To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-advocacy" in the body of the message
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