Jeremy C. Reed <reed@reedmedia.net> wrote:

> was told that Linux has been ported to more hardware platforms (as
> well as supported by more independent developers, more commercial
> companies, and big survey firms reporting about Linux's great
> growths and BSD doesn't exist (according to surveys)).

s/Linux/Windows/ and s/BSD/Unix/ in the above and it's not much
different from what I've seen years and years ago. :)


> I was told that if NetBSD has been ported to it then Linux is there
> as well.  I estimated around 55 hardware architectures (for NetBSD).
> I was told that Linux has all 55 of those.

Supported by 55 different kernel trees all slightly different.  Plus
you need a patch that A did and then the patch that B wrote for the
tree patched with the A's patch, etc.

And then your glibc and your kernel don't agree on how the interface
between the userland and the kernel looks like.

*shrug*


> Plus 28 more PDAs (not running BSD I was told).
> http://www.linuxdevices.com/articles/AT8728350077.html

I bet that NetBSD already supports the CPU.  So if there's a boot
loader, it will most likely boot on them with very little effort.

But the problem with PDAs is that to make them useful you need to be
committed to supporting all those small bits that make user experience
good.  Especially so with PPC style PDAs (no keyboard).  So unless
it's a commercially backed product, there will probably be only 2 or 3
users per each NetBSD PDA port (including the primary developer ;).
Hence no-one bothers.

Projects like this really belong to the commercial world.  There's
little fun maintaing Qtopia in your free time for all the two users
you have.


> And 19 more single board computers :
> http://www.linuxdevices.com/articles/AT8498487406.html

We support the CPU.  Show me the users that justify the effort or
*maintaining* support for those single boards in-tree.  I'm sure folks
port NetBSD to single board comuters every now an then in the privacy
of their personal or commercial projects, it's just that nobody
actualy cares to make a big PR fuss about it.  "NetBSD ported to yet
another platform, news at 11".



> And two wristwatches running Linux.

See the rant about PDAs.  I honestly cannot help but wonder *why* did
they do that - obviously those are commercial, not hobby projects.
(Personally, I don't belive in this gizmo fever, I'm quite happy with
mechanical watches my granddad bought in 1960s, they still work quite
well. ;)


> And mainframes running Linux, like IBM 390 and IBM ZFrame.

Those are, again, in the commercial realm.  IBM decided it can play
the Linux card, so it sponsored the port.

Now, relationship between companies and GPL'ed code are a completely
different and thoroughly tagnled topic that I just don't want to touch
with a ten feet pole.



> I've heard that BSD kernels power printers, phone switches, hardware sent
> to Mars, storage devices, phones, and more.
> 
> But where can I find a list of all BSD kernel powered architectures?

Why?  We support so many CPU architectures, MMUs, buses ***in the
single tree*** (not in 55 different trees), that adding yet another
platform for which we support the ISA doesn't really change anything,
and adding a completely new platform is cool, but doesn't change much
either.  The code has already made the quantity->quality leap.

For me the biggest really annoying thing about NetBSD, speaking at the
practical, everyday level, is that LC_COLLATE is not supported.
Seriously.

More platforms?  I already run 6 or 8, I don't care to remember how
many exactly.  I crossbuild them all from a single tree on a fast box
that happens to be a FreeBSD host.


PS: I'm already sorry I'm replying.  I usually try to steer clear of
advocacy...

SY, Uwe
-- 
uwe@ptc.spbu.ru                         |       Zu Grunde kommen
http://www.ptc.spbu.ru/~uwe/            |       Ist zu Grunde gehen