Date: Sat, 8 Jul 1995 17:58:59 -0400 From: dennis@et.htp.com (dennis) To: freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org Subject: Re: token ring anyone Message-ID: <199507082158.RAA09856@mail.htp.com>
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>> a couple of weeks ago I asked (on behalf of n1epo4tl@ibmmail.com Stuart >> Arnold) if anyone knew of any support for token ring cards with FreeBSD, >> we heard nothing ... either there's no interest or maybe it was mail >> failure ? > >Token Ring is a proverbial pain in the ass. > >Of course this ignores the fact that you really want fairly generic source >routing so you could use it with IPX or OSI or whatever else is around. > >The major Token Ring chipsets are fairly painful. It also means that >the driver writer have the infrastructure to test the driver (unlike >Ethernet where you can plug two systems back-to-back or use some ThinWire >Token Ring requires a MAU). If you don't need to test source routing, >thin a single ring will be fine otherwise you'll need a bridge. You also >need a router to make sure you are dealing with stupidity of bit-flipped >ARP address properly. > The pain level aside, a better reason is that token ring is dead...when was the last time anyone heard of a NEW network installation using token ring when ethernet was an option? Token ring today is limited to IBM's hostage customers who simply have little use for BSD unix anyway. Anyone with a novell network can simply stick a $30. ethernet card into their server and wire up a FreeBSD box to it if they want to put it on their net....and I'm not sure that anyone else using token ring much matters. db
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