Re: ee9 V1.9: Ada 2005 emulator of the KDF9

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On 2012-01-11, Simon Wright <simon@pushface.org> wrote:
> Bill Findlay <yaldnif.w@blueyonder.co.uk> writes:
>
>> If you run GNAT GPL 2011 on a Solaris box, I'd love a SPARC build to
>> complete the set! 8-)
>
> If I was doing that it would be solaris-x86; I guess there might be
> SPARC hardware on Ebay. Opensolaris does exist, so there is a sort-of
> chance; the last time I looked it seemed like a lot of effort for little
> gain as against running Linux, but YMMV!

There are a few reasons why a small but loyal community exists running SPARC
hardware and Solaris. The hardware is beautifully made and has really super
management features and lasts forever. The BIOS is written in FORTH and is
accessible over ethernet. You can manage machines remotely at a level not
found with other servers. Some of us like RISC boxes and especially SPARC
and find it refreshing change from Intel's pizza with everything on it. And
believe it or not, not everyone likes Linux or agrees the whole world should
be GPL. Solaris has professional and thorough doc. What's more, other free
OS like OpenBSD, FreeBSD and NetBSD also run on SPARC hardware. In the end
it's quite a refreshing change from Linux on Intel. Try it some time! The
machines are available very cheaply now. OpenSolaris on SPARC is all but
dead, btw.