[UFO Chicago] Now Taking Requests For Free Operating Systems -- August 6 Followup

[Jay F. Shachter]

On Friday, July 21, 2023, I wrote:

>
> Esteemed Colleagues:
>
> One of my clients sent me a laptop on which Microsoft Windows had been
> installed, because he needed me to teach an online class to a customer
> who, for security reasons, insisted on using Adobe Connect rather than
> Zoom for the videoconference platform, and the Adobe Connect client
> only works properly on Windows, and I didn't own a laptop on which
> Windows had been installed (except for one where it had been
> installed, but it doesn't work).
>
> So now I had a laptop in my possession that could boot only Microsoft
> Windows.  This is, of course, a waste of disk storage, and, although
> disk storage might no longer be considered a scarce resource, laptop
> computers still are.  I shrunk the Windows system (it still boots, and
> none of its functionality has been impaired).  Onto the disk storage
> thus reclaimed, I have installed 6 free operating systems ....
>

As of this writing, I have installed 9 operating systems on this
computer.  Together with the original Windows system, therefore, there
are now 10 operating systems that you can choose from, when you boot
this computer:

                      1. Microsoft Windows 10

Five Unix systems:

  One Solaris system:
                      2. Solaris 11.4.42.111.0
  Two Linux systems:
                      3. Springdale Linux 9.0
		      4. Slackware Linux 15.0
  Two BSD systems:
                      5. NetBSD 10 BETA
		      6. OpenBSD 7.3


Four non-Unix systems:

                      7. Haiku r1beta4
		      8. 9front 9931
		      9. ReactOS 0.4.15
		      10. FreeDOS 1.3


(Solaris is not open-source, but it should be acceptable to the
readership of this mailing list; we are the Users of Free Operating
systems, not the Users of Open-Source Operating systems.)

All of the Unix systems except OpenBSD can share disk storage using a
ZFS pool.  The crazy fanatics at OpenBSD will not support ZFS --
something to do with not having the right kind of license -- so there
will be some duplication of disk storage there.

I have tried, and failed, to install Icaros and SkyOS.  I have not
tried to install Zephyr.  I have decided not to install Minix, because
I don't see what it gets you that you can't get from Linux.  Yes, you
can also ask what ReactOS gets you that you can't get from Microsoft
Windows, but that is a matter of principle.

I shall bring this computer to the next in-person UFO meeting, so you
can play with it (so be sure to get us a place to meet where there is
an electrical outlet for the power adaptor, the battery will not last
the duration of the meeting).  I am taking requests, between now and
then, for additional free operating systems you would like me to
install.  There is room in the Linux volume group for one more Linux
system (the complete Slackware installation took up more space than I
had expected) and there is also unallocated disk storage on which
other operating systems can be installed.

                        Jay F. Shachter
                        6424 North Whipple Street
                        Chicago IL  60645-4111
                                (1-773)7613784   landline
                                (1-410)9964737   GoogleVoice
                                jay at m5.chicago.il.us
                                http://m5.chicago.il.us

                        "Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur"