Subject: Re: Q: Compaq, *BSD and 'Linux-only' AlphaBIOS (fwd)
To: Lord Isildur <isildur@guild.net>
From: Andrew Gallatin <gallatin@cs.duke.edu>
List: port-alpha
Date: 12/03/1999 20:58:24
Lord Isildur writes:
 > 
 > I consider SRM to be the way to go, and i think instead the convoluted
 > hacks that things like MILO had to go through are the rsult of using the
 > ARC/ALphaBIOS _instead_ of using SRM. Now that Compaq has released SRMs
 > for so many more models and eliminated the need to buy the developer kit,
 > i see no reason to consider ARC anymore _at all_. It was a cheap second

The only problem with this argument is there are a few machines that
nobody ever made SRM for.  Like the XL266 and the 300XL.  They don't
trouble us because we don't have them.  But we don't have them because 
they don't run BSD.

And then there is the new UP1000 board which claims to have AlphaBios
only & to support linux. 
(http://www.alpha-processor.com/products/up1000-board.asp) 
I think this might be just paperware, as I cannot find any mention of it
anywhere except at Alpha Processor Inc's site.

It sure would be nice if they just open-sourced SRM.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Andrew Gallatin, Sr Systems Programmer	http://www.cs.duke.edu/~gallatin
Duke University				Email: gallatin@cs.duke.edu
Department of Computer Science		Phone: (919) 660-6590