On Sun, Jun 08, 2003 at 09:33:24PM -0400, Greg A. Woods wrote:
  | > The simple solution for you is to add an appropriate entry in your
  | > dhcp server configuration.
  | 
  | Not everyone can hack their own local DHCP server as easily as they
  | might be able to run a rarpd and rpc.bootparamd on some machine they can
  | control.

That is a bogus argument; if you can edit /etc/bootparams you can edit
/etc/dhcpd.conf, and the documentation and diagnostic information
available to install and debug dhcpd is FAR better than that which is
avilable for NetBSD's bootparamd.


  | This "solution" (i.e. the current state of affairs) also requires that
  | _everyone_ who wants to netboot a sparc with a stock GENERIC kernel must
  | run all of rarpd, rcp.bootparamd, and dhcpd, and they must make sure to
  | configure them all compatibly.

Wrong;  rpc.bootparamd is not required by the current system.

I netboot alpha, i386, shark, sparc, sparc64 (as well as HP printers
and in the past NCD X-terminals and various vendors terminal servers),
and I don't have rpc.bootparamd enabled on my network; dhcpd, tftpd,
and for the sparc PROMs, rarpd, is all that I need.
(I only used to need bootparamd for the sparc boxes, where I found
it to be unreliable and annoying to debug.)


  | This is a big departure for anyone accustomed only to ancient SunOS where
  | rarpd and rpc.bootparamd are sufficient.

This is NetBSD, not ancient SunOS.  We've made a conscious decision to
attempt to make the various NetBSD platforms be more consistent in the
way that they operate, including netbooting, where feasible.


[That's enough said by me on this topic; I'm not going to get further
embroiled into a classic "Greg Woods versus someone" email gabfest.]