[plug] UPS's with Linux support

[Paul Wilson]

If anyone's still interested in Alpha UPSs with Linux, here's the story so
far.

* Linux software has been written and will be available in a couple of weeks
(the CDs are being pressed/printed at the moment). It will cost about $100
AU and won't be available in source form !  It should be interesting to see
how well they handle the multitude of Linux kernel/hardware configurations.

* The low end Alphas are terribly simple minded creatures - Linux has to
provide a signal to the UPS (via Tx I think), and if the mains disappears,
the UPS switches the signal back to the server (using Rx).  That's it !

* This means that genpowerd can't be used in it's current state (it uses Tx
to kill the inverter in the UPS and won't support other use of that line),
but could be carved up to do the job.

* It looks like I'm going to have to produce some carefully crafted
monitoring software specifically for the dumb Alphas (read hacked   :-)) if
I can't find something on sunsite to do the job for me.

If anyone's still awake, I'll let you know what develops.

Paul