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Thread ID: 84646 2007-11-13 11:51:00 What Operating System do you use? MaXimus (13013) PC World Chat
Post ID Timestamp Content User
611278 2007-11-14 17:25:00 Linux, x4, Various flavours
XP Pro x1
XP Home x1
Laptop ~ PCLinuxOS + Linux Debian + XP Pro.

And, Laura, There's no such thing as "enough computers", never mind too many. ;)

However, WinMacGuy gets by without any at all. :o
R2x1 (4628)
611279 2007-11-14 19:07:00 H.O.S.

The OS with the big green letters, used in every spy film. Hollywood Operating System.

(stolen from PC World Magazine Dumb Terminal back page years ago)
Digby (677)
611280 2007-11-14 19:09:00 Have you noticed the results come to 150% approx ?

Regards

Digby
Digby (677)
611281 2007-11-14 20:45:00 Why do people need more than one computer? I have one, and I don't see why I would need any more.

I could do with a laptop though.

I have a laptop, my wife has a laptop plus we also have a media center PC and a server.

There is no poll option for Windows Small Business Server 2003....
CYaBro (73)
611282 2007-11-14 22:12:00 Have you noticed the results come to 150% approx ?

Regards

Digby

That's because PF1ers give 150% of their time and effort... or it could be something to do with the clock :waughh:
Shortcircuit (1666)
611283 2007-11-14 23:55:00 Have you noticed the results come to 150% approx ?

Regards

Digby

Or because its a multiple choice poll and as seen by the replies, a lot of us have more than one OS running.
beeswax34 (63)
611284 2007-11-15 00:02:00 What about DOS 6.1 and windows 3.11 chicken one (6501)
611285 2007-11-15 04:01:00 Some functions simply divide better among multiple machines. For instance:
The media PC doesn't belong in the same box as the fileserver (IO bottlenecks) or the PABX (cpu bottlenecks).
The desktop isn't left on 24/7, so it can't be the media PC either.
The fileserver doesn't belong on the same machine as a personal desktop (shut down at night), family PC (useless OS) or laptop (frequently disconnected from net).
The desktop isn't portable, hence the laptop.
The web/mail/subversion server rightfully belongs on a high-speed datacentre connection rather than a home DSL line, so that's another machine (VM though).
Family PC & personal desktop shouldn't be the same machine (too many people wanting to use it at the same time).
Firewall/Router requires a separate box due to the need for three dedicated NICs and a different OS (pfSense embedded).
Testing machines should be separate from main machines to facilitate quick hassle-free messing with the OS. Two of them in case there is a need to run two test jobs at once, or if one machine is currently in a 'destroyed' state.
Backup server should be on a separate box to provide hot-failover capabilities in case of server failure, and to prevent IO bottlenecks.

That said, fileservers are excellent for running all kinds of other small tasks that aren't resource-intensive. This may include things such as ldap, radius, local mysql (for stuff not related to the main webserver), kerberos, slave transcoder for media PC (niced to 15 or so), distcc, tftp & netboot stuff, http/socks proxy & cache, torrents and development webserver.

I will admit that these aren't all, strictly speaking, needed - but I suffer from that common affliction of doing geeky things with every piece of gear I can get my hands on, just because I can. Some of these things are actually useful :rolleyes:. It's also surprising just how much it doesn't cost - I have spent no more than approx $2.5k on computer gear in the last 6 years (excluding the family PC, I don't have anything to do with that unless it needs fixing!).

I wasn't counting servers, but I'll agree that the media PC is a good use of a computer. I also wasn't counting computers for other family members (ie, family PC if you don't use it).

Of course, there are currently .... 8 computers sitting on my network right now, but I only USE one for me.

I was talking about the people who seem to have 7+ computers, none of which are servers, routers, etc.
george12 (7)
611286 2007-11-15 04:12:00 What about DOS 6.1 and windows 3.11

I got 6.22 and WfWG 3.11 running on a 386, gives that fully authentic old style gaming experience :D
Agent_24 (57)
611287 2007-11-15 04:45:00 I wasn't counting servers, but I'll agree that the media PC is a good use of a computer. I also wasn't counting computers for other family members (ie, family PC if you don't use it).

Of course, there are currently .... 8 computers sitting on my network right now, but I only USE one for me.

I was talking about the people who seem to have 7+ computers, none of which are servers, routers, etc.

Well, only one of my old computers is a make-shift router. One is my new desktop which is for everyday use, gaming etc. One Vista laptop is for Uni, one is for my programming/beta testing, one is my phone/PDA and one is just my PDA. Just cos they;re not all servers or routers doesn;t mean they're not used by one person.
beeswax34 (63)
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