Re: Aunt Tillie builds a kernel (was Re: ISA hardware discovery -- the elegant solution)

Timothy Covell
2002-01-14T23:35:44Z

OK, drop what you're holding and prepare to load up on rotten
tomatoes, but I know that there is a solution. Inasmuch as I
am a fan of Linux and BeOS, I think that the way to go is
with just about everything (sans networking perhaps) built
as a kernel module just like what is being discussed. Nothing
is simpler in BeOS than downloading a driver and plopping
it in $HOME/config/add-ons/kernel/busses/ieee1394 (most install
scripts do this for the user or provides a "drag this driver to here"
link. And with BeOS, the boot menu allows one to disable
"user add-ons" so that if there is a problem with the module, one
can disable it.

Yes, this doesn't please the server folks. For them,
I think that we should either leave the monolithic build as an
option or find a way to get rid off any penalties to using modules.

BeOS, autoconfigures and loads all drivers in the
15 seconds or so that it takes to achieve a complete hard
boot. That much said, BeOS only supports good hardware
and left ISA stuff to user to play with (via a GUI tool). I really
do not see the value of any more discussion of how to
autoconfigure ISA/MCA/EISA/VLB cards. The vast majority
of people using those systems are:

1. Still stuck in DOS World
2. Use M$ anyway
3. Would be afraid to upgrade their kernel
4. Think it's cool to have a Beowulf cluster of 386s
5. Forgot to turn off their computers before they died
6. Ancient sattelite based missile silos which we
wouldn't want to touch anyhow.....

--
timothy.covell@ashavan.org.