Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!unisoft!bdt!david
From: david@bdt.UUCP (David Beckemeyer)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: A proposal--TOS Replacement Project
Summary: GNU won't work on a 68000 CPU
Message-ID: <431@bdt.UUCP>
Date: 16 Nov 88 21:41:40 GMT
References: <700@sdcc15.ucsd.edu> <17702@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU> <1683@netmbx.UUCP> <1226@psu-cs.UUCP> <1184@ttds.UUCP>
Reply-To: david@bdt.UUCP (David Beckemeyer)
Organization: Beckemeyer Development Tools, Oakland, CA
Lines: 23

In article <1184@ttds.UUCP> perand@ttds.UUCP (Per Andersson) writes:
>Well everybody if you feel like dropping the floppy-disc OS one 
>might consider GNU when it becomes ready. It is supposed to
>be a full-blown UNIX type operating system with all the utilities
>one might need. It will probably demand something like 1.5-2MB ram
>in its initial form but that might be possible to change.

It's my understanding that GNU is a virtual memory based system.  I
don't think it would be possible to port GNU to the Atari ST without
making hardware hacks or *major* software hacks.

GNU is an emulation of a BSD type demand paging system I believe.
The ST has no hardware mechanism to support demand paging (neither
does the 68000 CPU).

You might be able to port many of the GNU UNIX commands (some already
have been ported), but I don't think you'll be able to port the GNU
kernel to the ST.
-- 
David Beckemeyer (david@bdt.UUCP)	| "Lester Moore - Four slugs from a .44
Beckemeyer Development Tools		|  no Les, no more."
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