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Re: DEC alphas
On Sat, Mar 25, 2000 at 08:26:00PM -0000, Andrew Basterfield wrote:
> I currently run Linux on x86 (yuch!) hardware but I would like a DEC Alpha
> box. Where can I get a DEC Alpha mobo & chip locally? How much is this
Sounds like a good idea if you really need it. As most other
people mentioned, Alphas are dear mighty things. I was looking for one
about 6 months ago, and the best deals I found came from a small company
in Germany. A whole system was around 1.5k. There's also a concern on
what you use to play around with it: you're not gonna be using IDE or
anything like that are you? :-) Then memory requirements are a bit
annoying (at least, used to be).
The good news is that if you can afford it and really need it,
you can get hold of DEC's compilers for Linux, and some of their
mathematical libraries. I didn't follow the whole story, but I seem to
remember they would end up being
(i) free [1]
(ii) cheap-ish
They also give you trial accounts in their servers so you can
have a play with them.
As for 2nd hand stuff, after about 6 months of lurking around
alpha places, I didn't find anything worth my hassle. You can get plenty
of UltraSparcs, mind you...
In the end, it was decided that since M$ scaremonging took foot
hold here (and anyway, it was a bit _too_ dear), the Alpha was not to
be. So I settled with a K7, which does reasonably well. In fact, for the
price we paid for it, it's putting the PIII to shame :)
If you're gonna go for it, try some of the FAQs posted on the
Alpha ng. They do offer a lot of information. As far as FAQs go, I tend
to think they're among the best you can get.
Best wishes!
José
Footnotes:
[1] "Free as in free beer, but not as in freedom", for all Slashdot
fundamentalists out there. X-)
--
José L Gómez Dans PhD student
Radar & Communications Group
Department of Electronic Engineering
University of Sheffield UK
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