[K12OSN] Crazy OSX thought

[Jim Kronebusch]

> That would be OSX for PPC thin clients.  Unless you are talking about
> porting OSX to the x86 platform.  Probably not an easy thing to do.

I wasn't exactly sure what it would be.  It just got me thinking when I 
loaded YDL on the iBook and booted it on a Term150.  Just got me wondering 
if LTSP allows the ability to run any OS platform independant.  Since it was 
a PPC linux kernel running on my i386 thin client.

> The problem is, it ends up running a whole boat load of stuff that isn't
> needed in a thin client environment.  The whole init process is way too
> bloated for a thin client.  No reason to run sendmail or cron or any 
> of the other services that a typical Unix/Linux box runs at startup.
> 
> Sure you could cut it down to the bare minimum, but when you are
> finished, does it really end up looking like OSX?

That is what I was wondering.  I figured this couldn't be a new thought.  I 
am just liking Linux as a base platform more and more becuase the 
possibilities seem endless.  It is awesome to talk to people and be able to 
say that "I know it can be done, I just don't know how to do it yet."  I 
can't say that with any other platform.

> And, if you want to see the basic process that goes into making the
> /opt/ltsp directories, download the LBE from cvs, and build it.  That
> generates the entire ltsp tree.

Cool.  Chances are that I won't understand a lot of it yet but I'll check it 
out.  It makes it easier to work with things when you understand the base of 
how they work.  I learned a ton with how things work just this last week.  I 
appreciate your help.

> It wouldn't be LTSP anymore.  It would be OTSP or something else.

Again, I wasn't sure what it really took to make LTSP work.  I would hate to 
see something that had to run OSX and the server PPC thin clients.  That 
would undermine the entire purpose of LTSP (getting away from proprietary 
and expensive hardware and software).  

> You want to run multiple operating systems on a single thin client
> simultaneously?  If you could pull it off, you might get the best of 
> all worlds, but keep in mind, you'd also be getting the worst of all 
> worlds.
> 
> The whole idea of LTSP and thin clients is to keep it all simple.
> Simple to manage, simple to install, simple to use.

I hear you there.  Most of my users still don't know the difference between 
right and left clicking (especially the Mac users :-)  I just like options.

> Sorry, I don't mean to knock your idea.  If it's something you are
> interested in, go for it.

No offense taken here.  Just thinking out loud to the list.  I'm not even 
sure it is something I am interested in.  I just figured I'd share my 
thoughts.  You should hear the garbage in my head that doesn't make it this 
far :-)

Thanks again for all your help. 

-- 
This message has been scanned for viruses and
dangerous content by the Cotter Technology 
Department, and is believed to be clean.