>    
>    >  (*) Incidentally, it's possible that there may never again be an OS that
>    >  is ported as widely or to such disparate platforms as NetBSD. There were
>    >  a _lot_ more automobile companies (and auto designs) in the early 1900's
>    >  than there are now in the early 2000's. What if a similar convergence
>    >  happens in CPU's?
>    
>    Has already. 
> 
> 
> really?  there is a constant stream of new cpu's coming out of both old
> and new vendors.... 

# of classes have dropped a fair bit.