/me grabs PCMCIA NIC from dresser, inserts it, ifconfig eth1 x.x.x.x, then removes it. *Smirk* Of course, I am not suggesting you should run a router on a PCMCIA or even a laptop, or even an i386 machine... With the right backplane, and possibly ASIC's in the high end models, you *can* do routing in linux. Not that I am suggesting you should, or the right backplane and interface is available currently, but never say never. Hell, even tivo runs linux.... Perhaps this should have a different thread, or just die off. No, you shouldn't use i386 boxen for any integral part of the internet fabric, but who is to say that a variant of linux running zebra won't someday be the device of choice on some future (maybe already in development behind the closed doors of some startup with a clue) hardware? -Paul Roeland Meyer wrote:

...

From: Christopher A. Woodfield [mailto:rekoil@electro.semihuman.com] Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2001 2:15 PM

...

Oh, and when you can

(a) have Linux shut down a failing interface card on the fly and keep humming along,

and

(b) be able to replace said card without shutting down,

lemme know.

IMHO, you are being short-sighted. Linux doesn't just run on PC boxen. That was my point earlier about the S/390. You assume too much. BTW, let's see you do the same thing with Sun gear, even Netras. How about hot-swapping a blade in a Cisco Catalyst 6509(not sure, here. I usually shut 'em down to do that.)? BTW, if you can find the hot-swap gear you want to run then I can probably get Linux to run on it (it just takes a while). Linux runs everywhere from Pal Pilots to S/390s (has any one seen it on a Sun e10K yet?)

In this day and age, such absolute statements are a little hazardous. Their shelf-life, even if true, is measured in micro-secs.

-- The only absolute is that there are no absolutes.