>>> I'm so excited about 64-bit processors on the desktop, and the AMD64
>>> processors in particular, that I finally scraped some money together to
buy
>>> some hardware and installed NetBSD/AMD64 2.0.2 on it.
>...
>>> Originally I saw on the NetBSD web site that the BCM5751 was supported
(this
>>> is not AMD64 specific), but later found out that the info on that page
>>> pertained to NetBSD-Current (an oversite on my part).

>As far as I'm concerned Netbsd/i386 or Netbsd/amd64 is a wonderful
>alternative to $5,000 - $10,000 sun running System-V.  You get BSD and
>you get it for $1,000 - $2,000 depending on how well you shop.

Of course it is!

>Unfortunately some companies never release programming documentation
>for their chips.  Often it hardly matters since cheap alternatives are
>readily available.  How much should one worry that the undocumented
>built-in ethernet can't be supported when gigabit ethernet pci cards
>are $25?

And not being able to use the built-in NIC was not even really the point!
Of course I can, and I will put in a PCI NIC, until NetBSD 3.0 is released.
Maybe some of you should read my original message again.  I take my hardware
and my OS (preferably NetBSD) very seriously, and it really bothers me to
hear and see these other OSes doing better and coming along faster than
NetBSD.  I'm sorry, but wasn't the Foundation just asking for
money/donations some weeks ago?  Did it sound like the Foundation was in a
bit of trouble, kind of hurting, or was it just me?  I know documentation
for (new) hardware is a problem, and I would not be at all surprised if
certain parties have certain agreements with certain other parties to
provide documentation/etc. solely to that party, but I for one am bothered
by the state and pace of which NetBSD is coming along (especially when the
driver for the BCM5751 has been in NetBSD-current since sometime last year)!

>The biggest joke is the frame buffers.  The 3-year old ~$50 ati rage
>cards (with 128 megs memory and 400Mhz dacs no less!) are supported,
>but the $150 and up ones aren't.  Its almost as if the company is
>forcing BSDer's to save their money.  In 3 years those cards will be
>$50 and they'll release docs.  I can wait.

>-wolfgang
>--
>Wolfgang S. Rupprecht                http://www.wsrcc.com/wolfgang/
>      Microsoft Vista - because "Virus Installer" was too long.