[conspire] Quiet, Freedom-compatible NAT/firewall/misc box?

[Rick Moen]

Not that it really matters, but a slight factual correction:

> Part of the background of this is a reappraisal.  I've been used to
> dealing with primarily rackmount server gear.  When I moved from San
> Francisco to 2033 Sharon Road, Menlo Park around 2000, I assumed without
> fully thinking the ramifications through that I'd have similar gear as
> the foundation of my computing at home.  Since I was a VA Linux Systems
> employee and had (and still have) easy access to slightly aging
> rackmount gear, I took advantage of that to have (at first) a slightly
> aging VA Research model 500 (PII) in my living room.

The model 500 (and 501) were actually PIII systems, just a tad slower
than the successor VA Linux Systems flagship 22x0 series.

I still have (sitting on a garage shelf, gathering dust) a VA Research
unit with an Intel 'Nightshade' PII motherboard, but it's a StartX MP
mid-tower workstation box, not a server.  One of these days, I intend to
replace the motherboard with something cutting edge, just for the lulz.