From owner-freebsd-current@FreeBSD.ORG Fri May 26 02:37:53 2006 Return-Path: X-Original-To: freebsd-current@freebsd.org Delivered-To: freebsd-current@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id EC06316A75B; Fri, 26 May 2006 02:37:53 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from jim@netgate.com) Received: from netgate.com (mail.netgate.com [64.62.194.115]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9937143D70; Fri, 26 May 2006 02:37:48 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from jim@netgate.com) Received: from [192.168.2.184] (rrcs-67-52-77-54.west.biz.rr.com [67.52.77.54]) by netgate.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 818E3280073; Thu, 25 May 2006 19:37:47 -0700 (PDT) In-Reply-To: <200605251628.58158.bkelly@vadev.org> References: <3500.1148571492@critter.freebsd.dk> <200605251628.58158.bkelly@vadev.org> Mime-Version: 1.0 (Apple Message framework v750) Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed Message-Id: <9453AA8E-B50B-4BF4-91F2-1AC5538FC6E6@netgate.com> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit From: Jim Thompson Date: Thu, 25 May 2006 16:37:46 -1000 To: Ben Kelly X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.750) X-Mailman-Approved-At: Fri, 26 May 2006 05:20:00 +0000 Cc: Poul-Henning Kamp , freebsd-current@freebsd.org, small@freebsd.org Subject: Re: FreeBSD's embedded agenda X-BeenThere: freebsd-current@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Discussions about the use of FreeBSD-current List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 26 May 2006 02:37:54 -0000 On May 25, 2006, at 10:28 AM, Ben Kelly wrote: > On Thursday 25 May 2006 11:38 am, Poul-Henning Kamp wrote: >> Writing a flash-friendly-filesystem would be a good project. > > Would it be reasonable to try porting JFFS2 or are their reasons to > write > something from scratch? some people have concerns about the performance of JFFS2 on large flash devices (> 16MB). Frankly, if supporting large flash devices (or arrays) is an issue, then perhaps the wear-leveling intermediate layer with a standard filesystem on top is a better approach. The real issue with porting JFFS2 is that its covered by the GPL, and putting GPL code in the FreeBSD kernel is typically considered a 'no- no'. Still, the embedded linux folks get a >TON< of milage out of MTD+JFFS2. Nobody has brought up supporting non-Freesbie bootloaders, either. Many boards use redboot, u-boot or one of the MIPS loaders to get going. Getting these to boot FreeBSD will also be part of any solution. I don't think its practical to port Freesbie to any new board, not in the short-to-medium timeframe, either. Jim