[PLUG] More tiny PC goodness

M. Edward (Ed) Borasky znmeb at cesmail.net
Sun Oct 14 05:28:41 UTC 2007


m0gely wrote:
> http://www.fit-pc.com/index.htm
> 
> This would make a great little firewall.  Comes pre-installed with Gentoo.
> 

$285US for a mini-PC? That seems a bit expensive when you can get a Mac 
Mini for $600US and a stripped 64-bit dual-core laptop for $500US, both 
including a monitor, a non-free OS and some applications. :) The only 
thing this has going for it is the low power consumption. I guess I 
should see how much of Gentoo I can get on an 8 GB flash drive. :)

Actually, the Gentoo LiveDVD runs about 3.7 GB using a compressed 
filesystem, so you'd have about 4 GB left over for data. You'd have to 
be *very* careful about cleaning out your source packages after an 
update, though. :)

Speaking of stripped laptops, I'm thinking about getting one and running 
(gasp) Gentoo Linux on it. Are there any I should avoid for reasons of 
hardware/driver gotchas? My only hard requirement is a dual-core AMD 64, 
although I'd like something that can go up to 4 GB of RAM and I'd prefer 
a 14.1 screen to a 15.4 screen. So far, I've seen ones I like from 
Toshiba, Acer, HP (pavilion), HP/Compaq Presario and Gateway. I'm 
leaning towards the Acer because it has a 3-button mouse. And I'm 
leaning against the Gateway given that Acer bought them out.

The plan is actually to nuke the thing down to bare metal, install 
Gentoo Linux and VMWare Workstation 6 for Linux, then move my Windows XP 
Professional License from its current home on a dual-booted laptop to a 
guest VM on the new laptop. Then the old laptop will get nuked and 
rebuilt with Linux.



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