Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

I work on various hardwares (laptops, desktops, macs) so sometimes i need to move an installed hard drive on one mobo to another different mobo

win98 hd can be used across, good luck with XP / Vista

iBookG4 tiger hd can be swappable to mac mini

ubuntu hd, i had occasions when it's not swappable (always kernel panic on other mobo - must reinstall from scratch)

OpenBSD always works (tm) on every mobo, even on my 10 yo XD380 thinkpad

BUT YOU CAN USE VMWARE!!! errr, i use simpler, OS / hardware independent tech: VNC

my setup now is: win98 for legacies, win-only software / hardware mac mini for fancier hardwares bluetooth, firewire, DVI etc

OpenBSD for development, VNC to win98 and Mac Mini (powerPC)

It used to be OpenBSD+Ubuntu ... However, time tweaking Ubuntu is better invested in win98+mac ... i feel ubuntu is trying to be win/mac/BSD* and it's weak in the three fronts -- weak identity, designed by committee for mass

you may think supporting 3 OS is more complicated; however it's not true

if the OS misbehave and need complete reinstallation: win98: i could just dd if=win98 of=/dev/disk2 and it's ready in 10 mins shrug osx: reboot from install disc, format tiger partition, map the tiger-image and it's ready in ~30 mins OpenBSD: just do ftp reinstall, untar Site44.tgz and it's production ready in 15 mins Ubuntu: i dunno, ... i'll prolly waste another hour+half or two reinstalling it

NB: Can u operate 3 OS (Win/OSX-powerpc/Unix) on a single machine? * BSD is more powerful than linux ... err GNU/linux ... or should i say GNU/BSD ? ... I dunno, i just want to hack and use the most powerful tools available, no time for silly nerd politics



Consider applying for YC's Summer 2026 batch! Applications are open till May 4

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: