“In the last few issues, we covered the basics in taking a
generic Wintel PC and turning it into a Unix dream machine. In this
last installment, we network the box, deal with ergonomics, and
tell you what to do if your makeover doesn’t go as smoothly as
ours.”
“Most versions of Unix will work with any popular
network-interface card (NIC)…. For Berkeley-derived Unix variants
(such as FreeBSD), we recommend Intel’s EtherExpress Pro,
which has one of the most efficient bus-mastering Ethernet chips on
the market. Had we installed Linux, we would have opted
for one of the latest 3Com cards.”
“If the community option doesn’t grab you, traditional support
channels are at hand. All the old Unix vendors have conventional
support lines up and running, although supporting their products.
Companies behind the Linux distributions also have put together
both channel- and corporate-quality support options. Finally,
third-party options, like Linuxcare, already are offering customer
service good enough for even the most paranoid customers.”