80386 support

["Aaron J. Grier" <agrier%poofygoof.com@localhost>]

On Fri, Aug 08, 2008 at 01:02:56AM +0200, Martin Husemann wrote:
>  - the "real" i386 support did cost us runtime on a very popular arch,
>    and apparently was completely (or close to) unused. If anyone with
>    such machines in working codition is out there, please speak up -
>    we could always revive support for it as a different port, provided
>    someone has long term interest in it. I won't hold my breath.

I have a 80386, a 486SLC, and a 486SX that I keep around as curiosities.
(the 486SLC was my NAT for years before I replaced it with a sparc 2.) I
get the bug to put NetBSD on them roughly once a year as a sanity check,
as a set of touchstones to answer the question "how bloated has NetBSD
gotten?"   (I also have VAX, sparc, and alpha machines that serve
similar purposes.)

I was sad to see 80386 support dropped from -current, but I understand
the lack of interest, and don't have enough experience with it to keep
it alive.  (I do not have anything useful for my 80386 to do anymore
since getting a stack of sparcs.)

so long as CVS history remains intact, the potential for support
returning is always there, even if it effectively becomes a new port.

-- 
  Aaron J. Grier | "Not your ordinary poofy goof." | 
agrier%poofygoof.com@localhost