on 12/10/05 4:28 PM, Donald Lee at MacPPC1@caution.icompute.com wrote:

> My comments are limited to serial support with NetBSD on MacPPC.
> 
> NetBSD 68K mac serial support was rock solid.  I used it for dialup service
> for some time. (years)
> 
> built-in MacPPC serial has been little used from day 1.  I went to a Cyclades
> 8-port serial card for serial, and that worked (is working...) fine for
> years, though I had to tweak the driver to make it reliable.
> 
> With serial, I think the main problem is that it is just not used much, so
> few people care enough to make it work.
> 
> Mac OS 9 and X are not the subject matter here.

No, Mac OS 9 and X are not the subject here.   The subject here is NetBSD
and Apple hardware with PPC processors.   When addressing the suitability of
the MacPPC architecture for use with NetBSD, it is relevant to consider the
suitability of the hardware for software that was actually coded by Apple.

I think that Apple's expertise on the macppc platform is second to none.  I
think we can all concede this fact.   I think that Apple, offering a
commercial operating system for this hardware, is probably best able to
offer a truly viable OS for this hardware.   I think it very relevant to
consider the problems of Apple's OS offerings in light of the expectations
placed by macppc users on those developing NetBSD for the platform

I think it highly reasonable to expect and/or suggest that NetBSD developers
probably will not overcome very real problems that even Apple has proven
incapable of addressing.   So, while Mac OS 9 and X are not the subject
matter here, they are most certainly relevant to the discussion here.

Is macppc a good architecture for running NetBSD?   There are certainly
better architectures.   Is macppc a good architecture for Mac OS?   Well,
the answer to the latter question goes a long way in helping answer the
former.