From owner-freebsd-hackers Thu Jan 11 05:34:13 1996 Return-Path: owner-hackers Received: (from root@localhost) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.7.3/8.7.3) id FAA21454 for hackers-outgoing; Thu, 11 Jan 1996 05:34:13 -0800 (PST) Received: from elbe.desy.de (elbe.desy.de [131.169.82.208]) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.7.3/8.7.3) with SMTP id FAA21431 for ; Thu, 11 Jan 1996 05:34:09 -0800 (PST) From: Lars Gerhard Kuehl Date: Thu, 11 Jan 96 14:34:31 +0100 Message-Id: <9601111334.AA03265@elbe.desy.de> To: jehamby@lightside.com Subject: Re: Pageable kernel? [was: PnP Proposal] Cc: freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.org Sender: owner-hackers@FreeBSD.org Precedence: bulk > Jake Hamby: > > microkernel-type design (with dynamic memory management) a la Solaris, > where every filesystem, device driver, etc, is a separate file. I know, ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ...and if either of these is damaged you're seriously in trouble... > ... I'm dreaming, but it would still be nice... A nightmare, it has been one of the most important reasons that I've changed to FreeBSD and switched back to SunOS on our Sparc boxes. FreeBSD is adult and doesn't need to follow every fashion. The kernel size isn't really an issue well say up to two or three MB. For a reasonable performance you need now at least 16 MB and be certain the requirements will further grow regardless whether the system has a micro kernel or a rather traditional kernel. A micro kernel is a good solution for an commercial OS - it allows to sell special service modules seperately - today an OS still only without C compiler will tomorrow come without networking capability, the day after tomorrow without scsi driver. Call that scalable and you will become a rich man. But there isn't need for that in a free operating system. Lars