*BSD News Article 32906


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From: nate@bsd.coe.montana.edu (Nate Williams)
Newsgroups: comp.os.386bsd.misc
Subject: Re: 4.4-lite?
Date: 19 Jul 1994 03:25:59 GMT
Organization: Montana State University, Bozeman  Montana
Lines: 44
Message-ID: <30fh47$94i@pdq.coe.montana.edu>
References: <2vgvc7$3tg@spruce.cic.net> <3097eh$m2h@pdq.coe.montana.edu> <Bs2yi5F.dysonj@delphi.com> <michaelv.774429899@ponderous.cc.iastate.edu>
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In article <michaelv.774429899@ponderous.cc.iastate.edu>, Michael L.
VanLoon <michaelv@iastate.edu> wrote: 

> But I want to clarify this issue because, it seems to me, you take away
> from the legitimacy of NetBSD when you claim that FreeBSD is just as
> capable in the multi-arch department as NetBSD, when I know what kind
  ^^^^^^^
> of pain NetBSD went through to make all that stuff work.  And I see
> this claim every time someone posts about how NetBSD is the system to
> chose for multi-platform development.

Read what you wrote above, and I will again state that FreeBSD is just as
capable in the mult-arch department as NetBSD is.  This doesn't mean that
is is there today, but the 'capabilities' are there.

And, as I have suggested (and other FreeBSD core members have as well),
that if you want multi-platform support *today* NetBSD is the way to go.

The 4.4 'core' platform was the HP series, which is NOT a little endian
machine.  Therefore, the plethora of endian-ness kernel bugs you allude
to in your posting simply shouldn't be in 4.4 due to the x86 influence
if 4.4 ran on HP's.  (Which is did.)

However, there *ARE* bugs in 4.4 which the folks in NetBSD have fixed in
their extremely fast (non-deragotory) merge of 4.4 sources into NetBSD. 
However, since it was done speedily by the NetBSD folks those bugs can
still be referenced by the FreeBSD folks or done completely from scratch.

This is not to say that one group is better than the other, but the 4.4
integration work has really leveled the ground, since the code base
started over due to the USL/BSDI lawsuit.

>I know you feel your OS is the best there is -- your own work is part
> of it.  That's entirely understandable -- I would feel the same way.

Not even close.  That would be NextStep. :-)


Nate
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