I have a plan. I want to set up an UNIX room in our summer house. There
is no Internet by any mean (even no WiFi around) so in makes perfect
sense to have an hideaway here.
For some reasons I decided that the best computer for this place will
be my second SGI IRIS Indigo - a newer model with tha 64bite MIPS R4000
CPU (my "main" Indigo is an original model with 3bit R3000 CPU in a
gray "Siemens" case). This newer one has just the "Entry" graphics,
however. So it is limited to 1024x768/8bit. However, the workstation
has a fast CPU (100MHz) and large RAM (128MB) and large HDD (2GB which
is plenty for the IRIX 5.3). And there are two free slots for further
HDD/tape/floppy (it only I have anything working). But, of course, the
main feature of the device is its blue case..
The main advantage over my other SGIs is that it has soldered a socket
for user-replaceable timekeeper battery. So when it is flat I can put
another CR2032 here. On my R3k model I have and original Tadiran
battery (when it dies I will probably try to solder the same socket
here). The Indy/Indigo2/O2 have Dallas chips which are harder to
replace.
Now I have to install all necessary software (the C compiler is already
here):
* the XV image viewer
* the GNU Octave 2.0
* the Gnuplot
* the Tcl/Tk (wish 8.0+)
* the Vim editor (version 8.0 should be available somewhere)
* the mpg123
* the Netscape Navigator (for off-line HTML viewing)
* some terminal application to be able to talk with Z88 and so
* the Brandy BASIC
* the p3nfs
It is also possible to install a CD player but it will make sense only
if I decide to connect a SCSI CD drive to the system. I'm still not
sure if I want to do it.
I'm going to connect the device to a 15" COMPAQ LCD (an ugly beige
thing but it is perfectly compatible with old systems - it can do not
only 1024x768 but also some lower Macintosh-only resolutions - and it's
color matches the keyboard/mouse color very well).
