6 comments

  • bentley5 hours ago
    The NetSurf browser the author tried out has multiple frontends. Two run on OpenBSD that I know of, the “default” GTK frontend and an SDL‐based framebuffer frontend. As was pointed out, GTK has a rather sizeable number of dependencies; building the framebuffer frontend instead would save a lot of time.
    • classichasclass5 hours ago
      (author) Is there a way to specifically build the framebuffer version from the ports tree? I didn't see one.
      • bentley5 hours ago
        /usr/ports/www/netsurf/netsurf-fb/
    • anthk4 hours ago
      Mainline Dillo runs faster and smoother, it's just an fltk + git clone && configure +make install away.
  • userbinator3 hours ago
    I don&#x27;t think these machines achieved much popularity in China either, as standard PCs were far more common and compatible with the existing software base.<p><i>the keyboard and trackpad are internally PS&#x2F;2.</i><p>Interesting that the PC influence is still there, although I&#x27;m pretty sure a MIPS doesn&#x27;t have them on port 60h&#x2F;64h, or indeed any I&#x2F;O ports. I remember having a similar moment of surprise when I played around with an ARM VM and discovered it had a &quot;VGA-compatible&quot; GPU emulating an old ISA-class chip.
    • justin662 hours ago
      A decade’s worth of SGI machines combined MIPS processors with PS&#x2F;2 keyboard and mouse ports.
    • classichasclass2 hours ago
      (author) My understanding is that they&#x27;re wired into the AMD southbridge which provides them over memory mapped I&#x2F;O.
  • JdeBP6 hours ago
    The wsconscfg problem with multiple screens, whatever it exactly is, is decidedly odd. According to this, the display is being driven as smfb0 in what is largely a dumb framebuffer mode, no acceleration, no GPU, no fancy high jinks whatsoever. wscons&#x2F;wsdisplay should have no difficulty with multiple screens on that sort of thing.
  • anthk5 hours ago
    No computer is obsolete with a BSD. I still use an n270 netbook daily.
    • Narishma2 hours ago
      Same here. I have a Samsung NC10 netbook with that same CPU which I recently converted from Debian to NetBSD when they dropped 32-bit support.
    • iberator4 hours ago
      Acer aspire one with NetBSD
  • shrubble5 hours ago
    It’s tough to find them on eBay; I wonder what the right search terms are?
    • mattst882 hours ago
      I think they&#x27;re super uncommon in the west.<p>I think they&#x27;re also super useless, to be honest. Incredibly slow. Linux support continued to degrade the entire time I owned mine. The keyboard and display are far too small to be usable. The graphics chip accelerates basically nothing.<p>I sold mine [1] on eBay back in October. I hope the new owner enjoys it more than I did :)<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;mattst88.com&#x2F;computers&#x2F;yeeloong&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;mattst88.com&#x2F;computers&#x2F;yeeloong&#x2F;</a>
  • stevefan19996 hours ago
    I still think it is very cursed to see that image of RMS using that laptop despite I was shocked to see it 12 years ago. Still shocks me to this day.
    • em-bee6 hours ago
      what is shocking about it?
      • sellmesoap5 hours ago
        I think because it&#x27;s RMS champion of digital openess using using an archaine Chinese laptop, it&#x27;s the dichotomy of China providing a product that&#x27;s essentially more free (of binary blob firmware) then a western equivalent laptop. Take heed and dispare oh ye providers of win modems!