Subject: New PortMaster for NetBSD/prep
To: None <port-prep@netbsd.org>
From: Tim Rightnour <root@garbled.net>
List: port-prep
Date: 03/06/2006 21:08:58
As of this week I will be taking over the role of portmaster for the prep port
of NetBSD.  I will be replacing NONAKA Kimihiro who did the original port
of NetBSD to the prep architecture.

Primarily, my goal for this port is to bring it up to modern NetBSD standards.
I would like to improve on the documentation and the installation of the
architecture as much as possible, as well as improve the device support
for the existing machines.  To give an idea of what I would like to see happen
on this port in the near future, I'm including my TODO list for the port. If
you have any other things you would like added, or opinions on any of these,
please speak up.

1) Eliminate struct platform from the port.  Replace it with a quirk table
for wierd machines, and gather as much data about each machine from the
residual data.

2) Replace the obio bus with a pnpio bus.  Rather than hardcoding in device
attributes with obio, we will gather them from the PnP data stored in the
residual data.

3) Add an NVRAM device to allow reading and writing of the NVRAM data present
on these machines.  This should make it possible to change the boot order
from NetBSD, and determine which device we were booted from.

4) Improve the bootloader to make installation and replacement of the
kernel easier.

5) Fix sysinst to install the system completely with no manual steps needed.

---
Tim Rightnour <root@garbled.net>
NetBSD: Free multi-architecture OS http://www.netbsd.org/
Genecys: Open Source 3D MMORPG: http://www.genecys.org/