[Info-vax] [OT] Bare metal definition, was: Re: VMS port to x86

[Jan-Erik Soderholm]

Johnny Billquist wrote 2012-03-27 17:23:
> On 2012-03-27 16.23, Jan-Erik Soderholm wrote:
>> Bob Koehler wrote 2012-03-27 17:49:
>>> In article<jkqkjv$p1i$1 at news.albasani.net>, Jan-Erik
>>> Soderholm<jan-erik.soderholm at telia.com> writes:
>>>>
>>>> But Linux runs on "bare metal". And if that part is builtin in whatever
>>>> the developer calles "the product", then what ? Doesn't "the product"
>>>> then
>>>> run on "bare metal"? Yes, one component of "the product" is some parts
>>>> usualy called "Linux", but so what ? Why should the customer/user care ?
>>>
>>> Because the Linux kernel can't handle some of the hard real-time
>>> applications that the user might have.
>>>
>>
>> But that is a completly different question.
>> It has nothing to do with the "bare metall" discussion.
>
> I think it has a lot of relevance if your "bare metal" actually introduce a
> non-deterministic middle layer to your emulation.
>
> The bare metal actually, by definition, do not have this property. So I
> would expect something that runs on the bare metal to retain that property,
> which to some is a very much wanted property. By falsely claiming that a
> product is running on the bare metal, when it actually is running on top of
> an operating system, they are in fact doing false marketing, and implicitly
> claim properties of their system which they can not back up.
>
> "Bare metal" is not just a word... It *means* something.
>
> Johnny
>

Windows runs on "bare metal", still many would claim that Windows
is non-deterministic.

I could easily write some simple code that runs on "bare metal"
that would be (by design!) *very* non-deterministic... :-)

No, the only thing rellevant here is if you need to add any software
yourself (such as an "OS") before installing the actual "product".