Verdict: T2SDE Linux
Museum hardware, and the will to compile. T2SDE is not a distro you download, it is a System Development Environment that cross-builds a modern Linux for whatever architecture you point it at: SGI MIPS, PA-RISC, m68k, SPARC, PowerPC, RISC-V, and a couple dozen more. The machines the rest of the industry buried get current kernels and current toolchains here.
What you get
Section titled “What you get”- Support for around 25 CPU architectures, including ones whose vendors no longer exist. If your machine has SCSI and opinions, T2 has probably booted on it.
- A source-based build system descended from ROCK Linux: you define the target, T2 cross-compiles the whole system for it. Glibc or musl, your call.
- Current software on ancient iron. This is the difference from retro-computing museums: your SGI Octane gets a modern kernel, not a preserved one.
- One maintainer with total clarity of vision. René Rebe has run T2 for two decades and builds it live on YouTube. You always know exactly whose fault everything is, and he would agree.
- A Discord where someone is always mid-restoration on hardware you thought was extinct. The ChaosBSD story started partly because of these people.
What will hurt
Section titled “What will hurt”- You will compile. Everything. On hardware where “everything” is measured in days. Cross-building from a fast x86 box is the intended workflow; learn it or suffer.
- The community is tiny. The documentation assumes you already know how a Linux system fits together. It is not wrong to assume that, but know what you are signing up for.
- One maintainer means one bus factor. The flip side of the dictatorship: decisions are fast, coverage is thin.
- Binary packages exist for common targets but the moment you deviate, you are the build farm.
Getting help
Section titled “Getting help”- t2sde.org - the handbook and architecture list live here.
- The T2 Linux Discord, where the SGI people are.
- René Rebe’s YouTube channel, where the OS is developed on camera.
First steps
Section titled “First steps”- Do not compile on the museum piece. Cross-build from something fast, then boot the result on the target.
- Check the supported architectures list against your exact machine first.
- Start with a prebuilt ISO for your target if one exists, then rebuild once you know what you want changed.
- Budget real time. This is a hobby with the pacing of shipbuilding.
Where to start
Section titled “Where to start”Read the T2 handbook before touching anything, join the Discord, and introduce your machine before yourself. That is the correct order of importance.