Computers for cross-platform development

[Michael Neumann]

On Thu, May 23, 2019 at 11:44:38PM -0400, Pierre Abbat wrote:
> I'm planning to get several small computers so that I can test my software on 
> several OSes. One will compile binaries for Windows; the others will run 
> OpenBSD, NetBSD, probably FreeBSD, and maybe DragonFly (I already have a 
> DragonFly box, but it's slow compared to my laptop). I'm looking at these:
> https://www.newegg.com/Barebone-Mini-Computers/Category/ID-3
> How can I make sure that all the hardware works on all the BSDs?

If you want small boxes, take a look at LattePanda Alpha's from DFRobot.
The old LattePanda's (V1) are very similar to Intel NUC and you get the
entry model for 90$ (2GB RAM/32GB Flash). The Alpha's are much more
powerful than V1 but also much more expensive (~400$). The LattePanda's
have pretty standard Intel hardware, graphics, network and wireless
should work out of the box.

You can also take a look at UDOO x86 and Up Board which are both very
similar to LattePanda.

Also pretty cheap are HP's MicroServers. I have two of them (N54L).

I agree with the other commenters that Virtualization might be the
better approach unless you need to run your software on real hardware.

Regards,

  Michael


> 
> The reason I say "probably FreeBSD" is that another computer I'm going to get 
> is a Power9 box from Raptor for big-endian testing. I know of two OSes that 
> are big-endian on Power9: Adélie Linux and FreeBSD. However, while it is Tier 
> 1 on Adélie, it is Tier 2 on FreeBSD. So I may or may not set it up as dual-
> boot.
> 
> Pierre
> -- 
> I believe in Yellow when I'm in Sweden and in Black when I'm in Wales.
> 
> 
>