> > Looks like an attempt to build a 64-bit Indy kernel. Various people
working
> > on the Origin support have completly broken the support for anything
else in
> > their battle tank-style approach ...
>
> Ok, that explains why a lot of things are broken.
> So who will be responsible for fixing all the broken pieces ?
In the absence of the SGI people being directed to do a
clean job, I suppose the problem falls to those who have
an interest in a clean and portable 64-bit MIPS kernel.
That would include MIPS, of course. But what about the
rest of you - could we see a show of virtual hands? I
know that TI has both 4K and 5K licenses, and may
want to be able to exploit the 64-bit capability of the 5K
under Linux. And the guys doing the Vr41xx ports may
also be interested. Anyone else? Those of you with
R4K-based DECstations, perhaps? Software shops
looking to support high-end embedded MIPS in set-tops?
Another aspect of this is that, in the newer MIPS
designs that conform to the MIPS64 architecture spec,
it is finally possible to cleanly seperate the use of
64-bit data types from the use of 64-bit virtual addresses.
The processors in the SGI platforms do not have this
capability, and it would be a lot to ask of the people
doing 64-bit Linux for Origin etc. to treat the addressing
and data aspects orthogonally. I haven't checked the
code, but I would imagine that we will have to go in
and redo things from that perspective as well.
Regards,
Kevin K.
