Re: compat_bsdos

[David Brownlee <abs%netbsd.org@localhost>]

On Wed, 22 Jul 2020 at 18:44, Steve Blinkhorn <steve%prd.co.uk@localhost> wrote:
>
> Does anyone know when compat_bsdos was abandoned?  It seems to me that
> it would make more sense, if I have to run an emulator, to run the
> lates version of NetBSD that had compat_bsdos.  It only ever supported
> statically-linked software anyway, but I have one major system that
> used to run perfectly with the compatibility layer, but throws up error
> after error relating to include files and ioctl calls when I try to
> run the compilation script on NetBSD.  It had compiled out of the box
> on BSD/OS.
>
> Or might it be worth trying to tweak the script to cross-compile for
> one of the compatibility layers that is currently supported?
>
> I have, superstitiously, kept some old machines that have older
> versions of NetBSD, and even one rather ancient BSD/OS box.  Touch
> wood.

It may be made harder because I don't think NetBSD ever had an
explicit COMPAT_BSDOS, it was just inferred by various other compat
options.

A bunch of the compat layers were retired to the Attic a little while
ago - pretty much because they had no one willing to step up and make
sure they still worked on an ongoing basis after other areas in the
system were refactored. If you might be interested in this, then I'm
sure there would be others willing to help with any questions :-p

Regarding older versions of NetBSD - I would probably start by trying
NetBSD-7 i386 to see if your BSD/OS binaries worked, and then going
backwards or forwards from there :)

David