Penguicon mailer, computer obstacles and opportunities
The Penguicon mailer announces our fifth Guest of Honor, Joan D. Vinge, and has been edited from last year to inform more people to bring their computers. I had to drive down to the west side of Ann Arbor yesterday to pick it up, and back to Oak Park, in the fog. Fortunately Blasted Bill was working in my area and stopped by to pick them up at my house so I didn't have to drive up to Great Lakes Crossing where he lives. I found out on this trip that my new eBay car charger for my handheld does not work.
While waiting for the mailer, I stopped by Computer Alley and investigated prices. I thought Pentium 4 was an older technology than it really is. There's no such thing as a bottom-of-the-line motherboard, memory or power supply compatible with my chip. Since I'm used to putting together bargain-basement computers, any one of these components is more than I wanted to pay for all of it combined. The stuff that allows hyper-threading, so it doesn't slow the P4 down, is twice that.
How am I going to walk the path of the *nix nature if I have to install such a huge build of Linux on my one-point-nothing lame-o-hertz Pentium 1? It's on 4 CDs and is normally distributed on DVD, which gives you a clue of the high expectations Fedora obviously involves. Fortunately, someone from the Michigan Humanist Forum started a Wiki for us, and during this discussion I mentioned my desire to learn and he mentioned he's starting his own web hosting business. He'd be happy to help me learn the ins and outs, since teaching increases his own mastery.
While waiting for the mailer, I stopped by Computer Alley and investigated prices. I thought Pentium 4 was an older technology than it really is. There's no such thing as a bottom-of-the-line motherboard, memory or power supply compatible with my chip. Since I'm used to putting together bargain-basement computers, any one of these components is more than I wanted to pay for all of it combined. The stuff that allows hyper-threading, so it doesn't slow the P4 down, is twice that.
How am I going to walk the path of the *nix nature if I have to install such a huge build of Linux on my one-point-nothing lame-o-hertz Pentium 1? It's on 4 CDs and is normally distributed on DVD, which gives you a clue of the high expectations Fedora obviously involves. Fortunately, someone from the Michigan Humanist Forum started a Wiki for us, and during this discussion I mentioned my desire to learn and he mentioned he's starting his own web hosting business. He'd be happy to help me learn the ins and outs, since teaching increases his own mastery.