[wplug] What about FreeBSD?

[Tim Lesher]

On Fri, Dec 20, 2002 at 10:52:16PM -0500, N. Iglehart wrote:
> That's funny about the power supply blowing up during a FreeBSD install.
> About a year or so ago I was booting up a FreeBSD box and staring at the
> demon in the corner when suddenly a capacitor blew in the monitor and
> smoke started pouring out of the sides. What was funny is that the
> monitor stayed on while I jerked the cover off to check for fire and all
> the while staring at that little demon with his goofy grin.

The phenomenon isn't limited to FreeBSD boxen.  Years ago when I was
at University, I was in a Mac lab when everyone started noticing a
very odd smell, kind of like what you'd get if you roasted 
peanuts in a styrofoam container.  The entire lab fell to a hush as we
stared at one poor little 512KB Mac in the center that, while
continuing to run, was now belching smoke out of the top ventilation
slots.  After a few more seconds, the top of the mac started to
melt and buckle.  I had the presence of mind to dive under the table
and pull the plug, to the horror of the user of the Mac, who protested
that now I'd lost her paper!

The worst part was that I worked for the campus computing center
helldesk, and when I called there to report that a Mac had
spontaneously combusted, they thought I was punking them.

Interestingly, I've never, ever seen a Windows box spontaneously
combust while running.  Probably because they're more susceptible to
defenestration by frustrated users...

-- 
Tim Lesher <tim at lesher.ws>
http://www.lesher.ws