why VAlinux went out of the hardware business

At work, someone donated an old VAlinux server 1000 a while back. It has all sorts of weirdness about it: no vga and ps/2 ports onboard, but a breakout box that provides them. The breakout box connects to the server with a proprietary connector. Also, the power button works in very strange ways – basically you need to press it at least twice, with the right duration for each press and enough time between each press for the server to actually start.

We’ve taken the thing into production (yes, we’re a non-profit!). It’s stable, runs fine. It has 2 serial ports (DB9) at the back, one of which we were already using. We wanted to plug in the second one today. Get this – the connectors are too close together for 2 standard DB9 cables to fit next to each other. Baughj had to shave off a couple of millimeters of plastic from the side of one of the connectors to make them fit together.

What were they thinking? I sure am glad these people don’t make hardware anymore.