Re: HOWTO for RPi4 and -current?

[nia <nia%NetBSD.org@localhost>]

On Sun, Jul 11, 2021 at 07:39:20AM -0400, Mouse wrote:
> This is, of course, unsuitable for an open-source project.  I don't
> understand why supposedly open-source-compatible projects like the Pi
> put up with it, and the use of undocumented hardware is a major
> fraction of why I've never bought a Pi.  I'd rather have no GPU than an
> undocumented GPU.

The Raspberry Pi is a slight anomaly because the GPU mostly runs
the show. This is becuase the chip the Pi is designed around was
originally intended (IIRC, exclusively) for cable TV boxes.
Probably the only way to make it affordable at the time of the
RPI1 release. RPI is one of those projects that was intended
to be accessible to everyone in the world.

On other newer ARMs the GPU is more of a coprocessor you can ignore
that only gets used when graphics processing is explicitly needed,
primary display output is via framebuffer, the audio and boot
code are separate, etc.