[KLUG Members] Notes from purchase of little diskless box from a1scs computer sale.

[Bruce Smith]

> > Running Linux on this is very cool, but what does it do "off the shelf"?
>
> Off the shelf it had what "looked" like a mini linux disto with a
> browser, ica client and a couple of (not telnet) terminals.  I could not
> configure it at all because the configs were password protected.  The
> Ica client looked a couple of years old so it would not suprise me the
> original owner decided to discard them because they upgraded thier ica
> server or some odd reason like that.
> 
> The long and short of it is that out of the box these used boxes are
> relatively without value.

Was it password protected because the previous owner set passwords on
those items, or because you are required to pay for licenses to use the
builtin software?

> > Would it be a working replacement for a X-Terminal?
> 
> My guess is that with a little bit of work, an X terminal distro could
> be installed onto the diskonchip.  I won't say that I understand the
> specifics enough to define the difference between an X terminal and an
> ltsp client correctly though.  Getting the ltsp client going is as easy
> as loading the grub firmware onto the diskonchip and then configuring
> grub with the correct lilo bootable image from
> http://www.rom-o-matic.net

What else is required to make them run as LTSP clients?  (trying to
figure total cost)  Monitor?  Keyboard/mouse?  diskonchip?  NIC?
I'm not sure what all you get for $25.

> Especially from a size and power utilization standpoint, these units
> have are intriguing and have alot of potential for firewalls and ltsp
> clients.

Yes.  I need to pick one up at a sale.

> There is good documentation on the ltsp.org website.  Having already
> done it once before, doing it Monday night only took me about an hour.

Did you have it at the meeting last night?  If so I missed it.  :-(

--------------------------------------------
Bruce Smith                bruce@armintl.com
System Administrator / Network Administrator
Armstrong International, Inc.
Three Rivers, Michigan  49093  USA
http://www.armstrong-intl.com/
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