[Tfug] Are boxen obsolete?

[Carl Trachte]

"Given that I cannot see boxen going away.  Isn't the cloud just a
bunch of boxen configured to scale?"

Shhhhhhhhh!  You are ruining all the romance . . . and hype of The Cloud ;-)

On Sun, Jan 11, 2015 at 10:12 AM, Keith Smith <techlists at phpcoderusa.com> wrote:
>
> I've been hearing (reading) the word boxen for some time.  I assumed it was
> a Linux computer, or maybe more specific a Linux hardware server.  Given
> this discussion I thought I would look for a definition.
> https://www.wordnik.com/words/boxen says "Multiple computers (or
> occasionally a single computer), especially those running UNIX.".
>
> Given that I cannot see boxen going away.  Isn't the cloud just a bunch of
> boxen configured to scale?
>
> I often joke that someday I will be able to use two smart phones to do PHP
> development.  In reality, I have multiple boxen so I can experiment and
> perform my duties as a LAMP developer.
>
> In the end I think we will just end up with more devices.
>
>
>
> On 2015-01-11 09:05, erich wrote:
>>
>> Oh,
>>              Thanks. I didn't know what BBB stood for. I guess you buy
>> stuff like that
>> online. Call me old-fashioned. I have to touch & feel it before I buy.
>> My latest is
>> PC is the size of a large shoebox that I got from SWS.  It has a dual-core
>> AMD
>> processor. It took a while to integrate the audio. That's because the
>> newer audio
>> chips are surround-sound, but the lt-green jack out of the back connects
>> to only
>> 2 of the pins.
>>
>> Erich
>>
>>
>> Zack Breckenridge wrote:
>>>
>>> Erich,
>>>
>>> I say yes, but for different reasons. Couple of good examples:
>>>
>>> *
>>> http://rwmj.wordpress.com/2014/04/13/caseless-virtualization-cluster-part-1/
>>> * http://lcamtuf.coredump.cx/edison_fuzz/
>>>
>>> Of course maybe the second one doesn't really count as boxen (but you
>>> could probably do a lot of work with a PC sized cluster), and the first one
>>> has no box, but rolling your own device is still worth it in many cases (and
>>> possibly still cheaper than cloud prices over a year or so depending on the
>>> workload).
>>>
>>> As TR mentioned, a BeagleBone Black is great for a mini-boxen. I have one
>>> and it's awesome. I use it as a mini server/router at work.
>>>
>>> Zack B.
>>>
>>> On Fri, Jan 9, 2015, 4:42 PM TR <trexx at pobox.com
>>> <mailto:trexx at pobox.com>> wrote:
>>>
>>>     Boxen arn't as big anymore but I still assemble parts  The
>>>     motherboard test to be a SBC,  mine are BeagleBone Black, used for
>>>     learning ComputerVision.     I hear BBB makes for a good
>>>     multimedia boxen.      TR
>>>
>>>     On Fri, Jan 9, 2015 at 3:40 PM, erich <erich1 at copper.net
>>>     <mailto:erich1 at copper.net>> wrote:
>>>
>>>         That is,
>>>                a computer which has hardware components which you can
>>>         mix and match.
>>>         Get the box. Get the motherboard, The processor, etc. Then add
>>>         the software,
>>>         (Linux, of course), and configure it to your liking. My kick
>>>         is multimedia.
>>>                How many people are doing that anymore? Nowadays you
>>>         buy the tablet
>>>         or the smartphone. Many apps come pre-installed, and you get
>>>         it all from the
>>>         cloud: banking, social media, etc. Who ever heard of
>>>         installing a souped-up video
>>>         display for the smart-phone that you already have. You go out
>>>         and buy a new one.
>>>         Right?
>>>                Never mind that everybody else is getting  monolithic
>>>         computers with
>>>         pre-installed software. Will there still be retailers that
>>>         cater to  geeks like
>>>         me with unusual tastes in hardware/software?  As you know,
>>>         Radio Shack
>>>         isn't doing very well. (That' where I bought my 1st PC)
>>>
>>>         Erich
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>         _______________________________________________
>>>         Tucson Free Unix Group - tfug at tfug.org <mailto:tfug at tfug.org>
>>>         Subscription Options:
>>>         http://www.tfug.org/mailman/listinfo/tfug_tfug.org
>>>
>>>
>>>     _______________________________________________
>>>     Tucson Free Unix Group - tfug at tfug.org <mailto:tfug at tfug.org>
>>>     Subscription Options:
>>>     http://www.tfug.org/mailman/listinfo/tfug_tfug.org
>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Tucson Free Unix Group - tfug at tfug.org
>>> Subscription Options:
>>> http://www.tfug.org/mailman/listinfo/tfug_tfug.org
>>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Tucson Free Unix Group - tfug at tfug.org
>> Subscription Options:
>> http://www.tfug.org/mailman/listinfo/tfug_tfug.org
>
>
> --
> Keith Smith
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Tucson Free Unix Group - tfug at tfug.org
> Subscription Options:
> http://www.tfug.org/mailman/listinfo/tfug_tfug.org