From owner-freebsd-current Tue Nov 2 23:53:44 1999 Delivered-To: freebsd-current@freebsd.org Received: from apollo.backplane.com (apollo.backplane.com [216.240.41.2]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 6BF9F14D15 for ; Tue, 2 Nov 1999 23:53:43 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from dillon@apollo.backplane.com) Received: (from dillon@localhost) by apollo.backplane.com (8.9.3/8.9.1) id XAA55780; Tue, 2 Nov 1999 23:53:38 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from dillon) Date: Tue, 2 Nov 1999 23:53:38 -0800 (PST) From: Matthew Dillon Message-Id: <199911030753.XAA55780@apollo.backplane.com> To: Mike Smith Cc: current@freebsd.org Subject: Re: GENERIC build broken References: <199911030721.XAA03097@dingo.cdrom.com> Sender: owner-freebsd-current@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG I think there is only one thing that will ever allow us to remove the BOOTP code from the kernel, and that is if a time comes when the BIOSes for all standard off-the-shelf motherboards all have the ability to set a boot-from-network option. When/if that ever occurs, then we will be able to remove the code. I can tell you from experience that relying on standards without direct bios support across the board, or relying and ad-hoc programs like netboot, simply will not stand the test of time. What may appear to work fine now for X number of PC motherboards/ethercard brands will only work for X/2 number of PC motherboards/ethercards two years from now. Only something integrated into the kernel or something that uses the kernel's driver source directly can stand the test of time prior to ubiquitous BIOS integration. It is a sad but true fact. -Matt Matthew Dillon To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-current" in the body of the message