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Xref: sserve comp.os.386bsd.misc:247 comp.os.linux:36389 Newsgroups: comp.os.386bsd.misc,comp.os.linux Path: sserve!newshost.anu.edu.au!munnari.oz.au!news.Hawaii.Edu!ames!agate!howland.reston.ans.net!usc!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!hamblin.math.byu.edu!news.byu.edu!cwis.isu.edu!fcom.cc.utah.edu!cs.weber.edu!terry From: terry@cs.weber.edu (A Wizard of Earth C) Subject: Re: Linux/386bsd on a diskless workstation Message-ID: <1993Apr28.020740.27332@fcom.cc.utah.edu> Sender: news@fcom.cc.utah.edu Organization: Weber State University (Ogden, UT) References: <C5sACr.Jp2@sleeper.apana.org.au> <1993Apr22.214040.27674@fcom.cc.utah.edu> <C5zLuL.KBC@sugar.neosoft.com> Date: Wed, 28 Apr 93 02:07:40 GMT Lines: 43 In article <C5zLuL.KBC@sugar.neosoft.com> peter@NeoSoft.com (Peter da Silva) writes: >In article <1993Apr22.214040.27674@fcom.cc.utah.edu> terry@cs.weber.edu (A Wizard of Earth C) writes: >> location that doesn't interfere with the operation of the download. This >> is the first good argument I have heard for a DOS boot-loader for 386BSD >> or Linux... > >No, it's not. It's not a new argument: it's the same argument that the folks >who want a DOS bootloader have been using all along. You sometimes need to >do stuff in DOS to deal with proprietary hardware or systems before you get >into a real O/S. Whether that's loading over a network or setting up some >weird video card, it's the same basic problem: you can't leverage off DOS >drivers any other way. I think this was the first time someone has suggested a boot loader for the purposes of doing a *boot* using a method that was previously unavailable. This is *very* different from the suggestion that (to put it bluntly) some sort of half-assed support should be rigged to allow something like a Diamond Speedstar to work without the manufacturer having to stoop to acknowledging the existance of something other than DOS. I am *firmly* against accepting second-class citizen status in any case, and doubly so if DOS is the supposed first class citizen. The reason behind propritary interfaces in the DOS market is to allow a company to compete in a given market with an inferior product... the lack of proper public documentation is a secondary revenue source for the manufacturer. Companies with inferior products should not be rewarded. The ability to "leverage off of DOS drivers" implies at least a partial dependance on DOS drivers -- this is also objectionable from a "purist" point of view. Terry Lambert terry@icarus.weber.edu --- Any opinions in this posting are my own and not those of my present or previous employers. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I have an 8 user poetic license" - me Get the 386bsd FAQ from agate.berkeley.edu:/pub/386BSD/386bsd-0.1/unofficial -------------------------------------------------------------------------------