Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!uunet!munnari.oz.au!uniwa!DIALix!metapro!bernie From: bernie@metapro.DIALix.oz.au (Bernd Felsche) Newsgroups: comp.unix.amiga Subject: Re: Graphics on Amiga Unix??? Message-ID: <1991Feb16.082723.13149@metapro.DIALix.oz.au> Date: 16 Feb 91 08:27:23 GMT References: <992@amix.commodore.com> <1991Feb11.031630.15334@stb.info.com> <18787@cbmvax.commodore.com> Organization: MetaPro Systems, Perth, Western Australia Lines: 40 In <18787@cbmvax.commodore.com> jesup@cbmvax.commodore.com (Randell Jesup) writes: > Getting any of the AmigaDos ROM code to run under Unix would >require MAJOR rewrites of at least the lower-level code such as exec. This could well be the case. I honestly have no idea of _how_ low level the exec handling would need to be. However, as C= has full control of AmigaDOS, it is certainly not an insurmountable problem. >(The higher-level you go, the less that needs rewriting, but the more >modules below it that need to be). If they are higher level, then they need not know about such things as hardware, memory locations, etc. > I don't think the current Unix kernel has any equivalent to >(for example) WaitBlit. Most Unix resource locking I've seen in the >past was done as files, a rather high-overhead operation for low-level >interleaved access - fine for high-level exclusive long-term access. This sort of thing, which is really hardware synchronisation, is best handled in a device driver. (IMHO) > I could be wrong, if so the Unix guys will correct me. It's not a trivial project. However, there is no reason why it can't be done, if you have the time and money :-) A virtual AmigaDOS could exist under UNIX. There are certainly some things that you will lose, such as real-time capabilities, because the AmigaDOS would be running as a process under UNIX. This situation may changes in future, when UNIX grows some real-time extension. Files could be shared quite easily, with AmigaDOS devices mounted as UNIX filesystems and UNIX filesystems visible to AmigaDOS as devices. -- _--_|\ Bernd Felsche #include / \ Metapro Systems, 328 Albany Highway, Victoria Park, Western Australia \_.--._/ Fax: +61 9 472 3337 Phone: +61 9 362 9355 TZ=WST-8 v E-Mail: bernie@metapro.DIALix.oz.au | bernie@DIALix.oz.au