Tim & Alethea Larson wrote:

> iMac wrote:
>
>> I'm just curious as to what types of tasks you folks are using your BSD
>> running 68k Macs for.   So, what are you doing with your 68k Macs?
>>
>> I'd really like to hear from people that are not doing mundane things 
>> like
>> running them as a router or firewall.
>
>
> I was running my main webserver on a SE/30, but I've transitioned that 
> elsewhere.  So right now, my NetBSD box sits idle.  I'm thinking of 
> running internal DNS on it though, and I'm building another.  Mostly I 
> just want to keep my hand in.  Occasionally track development of 
> projects I am interested in, to see if they still run in this 
> environment.  I just think they are very neat machines, and I am glad 
> that NetBSD keeps them alive, else I'd probably throw them out.
>
> Tim
>
I think I agree with you.  As you probably already know from following 
the list, I'm totally new to NetBSD and have just finished installing 
2.0 on my LCIII, 2.0.2 on my PM7300/200, and I'm in the process of 
installing 2.1.RC6 on my Quadra 700.  I have no idea what I'm going to 
do with the Q700 and LCIII, but the idea of building a Beowulf cluster 
seems most appealing at the moment.

Ideally, I'd like to setup a mac68k Beowulf cluster of between ten and 
twenty-four Q700s or LCIII and/or Q605s.   I don't really know what 
types of tasks I'd tackle with the cluster once I built it, but I'm not 
about to let that stop me from attempting a Beowulf.

I fear that my Beowulf aspirations are more of a solution looking for a 
problem, than it is a viable alternative to an inadequately addressed 
dilemma.   I feel that the knowledge garnered from such a project, and 
the complete educational value more than justify the time and effort 
expense of proceeding.   The financial cost, save hydro bills, should be 
rather minimal; the software is free and the necessary additional  
hardware can be had for virtually pennies.

My immediate concern is in finding a way to increase screen real estate 
for X on my PM7300/200.   I don't know if you've ever tried using 
Mozilla, Thunderbird (I'm using Thunderbird right now to type this), or 
GIMP on a 640x480 screen, but it is not at all pleasant.  Any ideas?

Anyway, I should probably address that last issue to the proper list for 
discussion.  I want to do my best to keep my posts very much on-topic.

Regards,

William