Date: Wed, 25 Oct 2000 18:19:50 -0600 From: Wes Peters <wes@softweyr.com> To: bpechter@shell.monmouth.com Cc: freebsd-sparc@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Sparc port going 64 bit Message-ID: <39F778A6.EC9FDE92@softweyr.com> References: <200010251240.e9PCe3k05581@bg-tc-ppp1176.monmouth.com>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
Bill Pechter wrote:
>
> Wes Peters (wes@softweyr.com) wrote:
> > You're free to work on whatever you want, but the general consensus for all
> > of us keepers of SPARC 1s, 2s, 5s, 10s, 20s, IPCs, and IPXs, was that it
> > would be hard enough to get a port going for modern 64-bit machines, let
> > alone doing it for ancient hardware, and NetBSD and OpenBSD support them
> > quite adequately already. FWIW, FreeBSD isn't really interested in "hobby"
> > ports anymore.
>
> This is why there ain't gonna be an Ultra Port for a while.
> Most of the folks who will volunteer to work on the stuff don't have or
> want to purchase Ultras...
>
> FWIW -- this is why Linux is getting all the different platform support
> and we're not. If it ran better under full load and ran with a more
> reliable file system I'd be worried about FreeBSD's survival. 8-)
> FreeBSD is the best Unix for i386... but we've not shown any real moves to
> the multiplatform area.
Because NetBSD already fills the portability bit. It is quite good, too.
The FreeBSD team decided early on to push for the extremes of performance
and (hopefully) reliability on the i386 architecture without pausing to
consider portability concerns, where the NetBSD team always considers
portability.
> A lot of us have scrounged Sparc2's (if I could scrounge a 10 or 20 it'd
> be running Solaris 8 to be compatible with the office for work at home).
Ugh. Slowlaris.
> My two Sparc's (Sparc2 class machines) are in the garage with Solaris
> Linux, OpenBSD and NetBSD.
Drag 'em out and do something with them. If you don't want them, I bet
we could find a few people here who do. ;^)
> I've pretty much given up the idea of FreeBSD on the Sparc 10's
> and stuff at work so I've gone back to Solaris on them. NetBSD
> and OpenBSD were ok -- but they didn't have the ports depth of FreeBSD
> and they were a bit harder to work with and support.
Yeah, a little. Many of the ports are fairly trivial to move to Net or
Open, and they could use the help if you've got a few spare moments.
> It's just the way it seems to be. I'm sure core would love to see the
> port happen -- just there's no real strong leader on the Sparc side
> doing the coordination and push.
I think that's the #1 problem. If I had the time, I'd go snare a refurb
Ultra5 -- I hear they're going for about $900 these days -- and get on
with it. But I don't. Sigh.
> Unfortunately, (or fortunately for me -- since I wanted the job change
> after 14 years of Sysadmin work) -- I'm moving out of Sysadmin and am
> decommissioning the FreeBSD boxes at my office and moving all to Solaris to
> make it easier for them to find a qualified person to admin there.
> (Linux, Solaris, WinNT, Win95/98).
That's sad. You might want to see if the incoming admin would rather have
the FreeBSD box. They'll probably hire some linux kiddie who'll replace
them all with Red Slime or some other disease.
--
"Where am I, and what am I doing in this handbasket?"
Wes Peters Softweyr LLC
wes@softweyr.com http://softweyr.com/
To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org
with "unsubscribe freebsd-sparc" in the body of the message
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?39F778A6.EC9FDE92>