Re: netbsd on vax 11/730; booting in sim

[Dave McGuire <mcguire%neurotica.com@localhost>]

On Jan 9, 2009, at 4:25 AM, Jochen Kunz wrote:
> Life is evolution, evolution is change. Live evolutes to higher and
> higher stages of complexity. It is natural that complexity increases.
> Live has evelved from primitive protozoon to mammals. If you stop this
> process you will become a dinosaur... That is why NetBSD needs stuff
> that "others have". If you stop importing new stuff NetBSD will get
> useless in "the real world" within a few years, leading to a decline
> and finaly extinction. NetBSD is not an endemic species on an isolated
> iland. It interacts with all that other Unix species out there in the
> wilderness.
>
> So. If you want a lean and fast Unix on your VAXen, install a Unix  
> that
> was current when your hardware was current. I.e. somthing like
> 4.3BSD-Tahoe. I did this on my MicroVAX III. It is fun. But if you  
> need
> to interact with the rest of the world (ssh, nfs, IPv6, PGP,...) you
> will have trouble as 4.3BSD is an endemic species on an isolated  
> iland,
> a living dinosaur.

  As others mention, all of those "interacting with the rest of the  
world" things worked fine back when NetBSD was fast on VAXen.

  Nobody wants it stop evolving and be be static.  But perhaps some  
of the "more fattening" things could be made optional via kernel  
configuration options.  NetBSD is more than just a PC operating  
system.  It (in my opinion) needs to remain true to its history and  
to its mission.  It should NOT try to be another Linux.

> BTW: NetBSD still runs like a mad ape on not so ancient hardware like
> early UltraSPARC machines because it is still much more efficient then
> all the alternatives out there.

  But think of how fast it'd be on that hardware if it weren't so  
bloated!

          -Dave

--
Dave McGuire
Port Charlotte, FL