From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Marco van Hulten Subject: Re: New POWER9 machines for the Guix build farm? Date: Fri, 29 Nov 2019 13:50:59 +0100 Message-ID: <20191129135059.1ae567b8@gfi063209.klientdrift.uib.no> References: <871rtsakoq.fsf@nckx> <9aeb5196-0b37-e4f0-c3f7-91ac2c10e976@free.fr> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Return-path: Received: from eggs.gnu.org ([2001:470:142:3::10]:50284) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.90_1) (envelope-from ) id 1iafju-00055b-HM for guix-devel@gnu.org; Fri, 29 Nov 2019 07:51:15 -0500 Received: from Debian-exim by eggs.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1iafjq-0004Kq-9f for guix-devel@gnu.org; Fri, 29 Nov 2019 07:51:11 -0500 Received: from alfons.uib.no ([2001:700:200:30::141]:55279) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtps (TLS1.0:DHE_RSA_AES_256_CBC_SHA1:32) (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1iafjp-0004B4-Km for guix-devel@gnu.org; Fri, 29 Nov 2019 07:51:10 -0500 In-Reply-To: <9aeb5196-0b37-e4f0-c3f7-91ac2c10e976@free.fr> List-Id: "Development of GNU Guix and the GNU System distribution." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: guix-devel-bounces+gcggd-guix-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Sender: "Guix-devel" To: dftxbs3e Cc: Guix Devel Hello=E2=80=94 On 29 Nov 09:25 dftxbs3e wrote: > I'm really happy to hear this! I also do own a POWER9 machine. >=20 > I have a Talos II with 2x 8 SMT4 cores POWER9 DD2.2 CPUs (64 threads),=20 > 64GB of RAM and an AMD WX7100 GPU (amdgpu libre driver). >=20 > I run Fedora on it since more than a year now, it's been my main=20 > workstation without any major issue. It's great to hear of such an experience! I have an amd64 server at home that makes quite a bit of noise and, standing next to the server, an amd64 workstation that makes even more noise, both of which are over 10 years old. I am considering replacing both systems for a single Talos II. According to the mainboard specifications [1], Ethernet is driven by a proprietary chip (Broadcom BCM5719). Is there libre firmware that is shown to work reliably? I guess it should be because it is FSF-certified to Respect Your Freedom, but could someone confirm this specifically for the network interface? [1]: https://wiki.raptorcs.com/wiki/Talos_II > I'm happy to provide assistance, I encourage GNU Guix developers to join= =20 > #talos-workstation on Freenode's IRC, we have a friendly active=20 > community that is always happy to help on POWER9 matters. Fantastic to see this work out! The other free modern architecture, RISC-V, is that like a sort of competitor of POWER9? Or is it more like Talos II being the obvious choice for a server (and workstation) because it is available now/more established? =E2=80=94Marco