Well, I always tried to keep work and pleasure separate, but I can now officially say that I "used to" work for that concern called Lucent. In the event that job hunting does not go so very well, I have also officially moved back on my boat -- minimize my expenses.

I'll need to return my LU Thinkpad next week, so I am trying to decide what to set up on the boat so that I can stay connected. I already have a phone line and I am quite happy that I kept my good old 3Com 56K "LANmodem" (simple little dial-on-demand NAT/POTS router). I'm also setting up my Netgear WAP on the boat.

Toward the end of when I lived aboard before, I accumulated too much extra baggage, to the point that it was difficult to go sailing or keep things neat. So, I am trying to get maximum functionality out of minimum space. Certainly I want the solution to do the basics, but the more extra duties it could perform the better. Some of the "extras" include: 1394 video capture from a DV video cam and editing; DVD player; function as my TV; run navigation software; ability to sit in the sun while composing cover letters (and controlling Empeg over 802.11b!).

My choices seem to be:
1) move an existing, full-blown mini-tower with an ATI AIW and add a 17" flat panel display to save space. Upside: least expense, has RAID-1 already, also able to run games and such. Downside: no sitting in sun, requires dockside AC, CPU consumes lots of space
2) Get a 12" or 15" Powerbook. Upside: nice 1394, DVD and video capabilities. Downside: 1 mouse button (on the machine itself, anyway) and no sunlight-capable display
3) Panasonic Toughbook: Upside: can get sunlight-capable display. downside: too expensive
4) NEC Versa: Upside: "daylight" display and less expensive. Downside: no DVD and with 8MB video RAM, this will not qualify as a game platform, I don't think.

Interestingly, this NEC Versa E120 has built-in 1394 and I have one of those new-fangled Sony DRU-500 DVDs set up in a Pyro 1394 case, so I could connect that as needed for DVD.

My questions are:

What's the experience with Linux on an NEC Versa? Who knows? The documenation makes no mention of what the video chipset is (hope a dealer can tell me).

Other than PCI TV tuner cards, are there any viable external TV tuners (like USB or 1394) that could turn that NEC into a reasonable TV?

Interestingly, when I went to look at the NEC, I thought I would wind up asking the BBS about the Transmeta Crusoe chip, but the Versa no longer uses that. The new model runs an 800 Mhz Pentium "M".

Also, I see that one of the Samsung flat-panel displays has a tuner option, but the total price is much more expensive than the basic 17" display. It just may be cheaper to get some cheap 9" TV. No cable service to the boat, so not so much to watch, anyway....

All in all, it is a terrible time to get laid off in this town WRT the local job market, but it a fine time of year from a "sit in the sun typing cover letters" perspective!

(edit: on dvdhelp.com, I did find several USB and 1 1394 TV tuners. Now a secondary question is whether any of them might be made to work under Linux....this leads to a thought: if a vendor has produced drivers for OS X, does that make it any easier for them to port such beasts to Linux given the BSD underpinnings? )

Well, I just can't seem to let this kind of question fester for any period of time longer than 2-3 hours, so I answered my own question. I found pricing on that NEC from these guys that wasn't a heck of a lot more than what I'd spend on a flat panel display. I just got off the phone with them and I have one on order. It's supposed to arrive from NEC next Tuesday so I should see it Thursday. I'll stall on returning the Thinkpad until then.

What is it like living on a boat? Do you have access to the same types of appliances one would find in any house or apartment? Such as washing machine, dryer, TV, microwave, oven, stove, sink, shower, and bath? Also, would a house boat be practical for cold climates? Or would a boat in cold climates cost too much to heat? Thanks, interesting stuff.

if a vendor has produced drivers for OS X, does that make it any easier for them to port such beasts to Linux given the BSD underpinnings?

Not really. Apple didn't use the driver model from an existing unix instead creating their own know as IOKit. IANADD (I am not a driver developer ;-) but from what I understand writing OS X driver kexts is significantly different from writing drivers for linux or other BSDs.

-Mike

Linux internals aren't all that close to BSD. It depends often what sort of driver it is, anyway.

What is it like living on a boat? Do you have access to the same types of appliances one would find in any house or apartment? Such as washing machine, dryer, TV, microwave, oven, stove, sink, shower, and bath? Also, would a house boat be practical for cold climates? Or would a boat in cold climates cost too much to heat?

When I moved aboard (for ~5 years) in 1990, I didn't do it because I wanted to live aboard. I did it because I wanted to own a sailboat and that was the only way I could afford even a modest, 20-year-old 33 footer. Given the local economy, housing prices and employment situation, I would say that a higher proportion of people are living aboard now out of necessity, not desire.

Of the list of appliances you mention, most are either not installed or much smaller unless you have a *lot* of money and are talking about a $500,000 yacht. My boat has 30 amps of AC shore power, a tiny microwave, a propane range/oven, an ice box (that needs ice) and a head with a 13-gallon holding tank that I pay a company $15 a month to pump out (so I am in compliance with water quality regs). The *real* usable bathrooms are on shore with coin-operated showers (prepare to stand in line occasionally.

Cold climates? There are even a few liveaboards in Boston Harbor, but I bet they have kick ass diesel heater systems! Seattle is easy in that regard.

Don't take it wrong, the marina makes a great "back yard" with no grass to mow. And there's nothiong like coming home from downtown on a 85-degree day downtown to find a 10 degree temperature drop and a nice breeze.