[Info-vax] X86 first boot? - A Really Stupid Question

[Simon Clubley]

On 2019-03-29, Phillip Helbig (undress to reply) <helbig at asclothestro.multivax.de> wrote:
>
> If patches etc were available for hobbyist use again, you would have 
> many people happy to test, a bit bolder than in a production 
> environment.  With x86, hardware won't be such a bottleneck with 
> hobbyists.
>

The availability of patches is only a small part of the problem.

The real problem is writing the drivers to support that hardware
in the first place.

What happens when you try it on some hardware and find it doesn't
work ? How do you fix the problem when you don't have access to
the source code for the driver ?

In the open source world, where people _do_ have access to the
source code, there are plenty of people with the ability to
track down the problem and supply fixes. Having access to the
driver source code means that ability can be used to actually
find and fix the problem.

It's also a _lot_ easier and quicker to write, and especially
debug, a driver in the Linux world than it is in the VMS world.

Try writing a few BSPs for an embedded OS and you will get an
understanding of the real problem here.

I can fully understand VSI's dilemma.

Simon.

-- 
Simon Clubley, clubley at remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP
Microsoft: Bringing you 1980s technology to a 21st century world