Re: Path to kmods

[Andrew Doran <ad%NetBSD.org@localhost>]

> On Thu, Nov 13, 2008 at 03:30:22PM +0100, Manuel Bouyer wrote:
>
> > Your argument is short on detail. You mentioned PAE, but what other
> > issues
> > do you see causing incompatibility?
>
> Lots of things which are in machine-dependant headers (different
> #define, different inline functions, different structures). are
> part of the kernel API. If you want a specific example, look at pcitag_t.
> Or PCI_MACHDEP_ENUMERATE_BUS. or pci_intr_handle_t.

The PCI item is good to know about, thanks.

What I get from you is that you see instant defeat in this. But, the fact of
the matter is that there are precious few differences that count: nobody is
proposing to make the pmap loadable, for instance. We are already in a
position where simple modules from i386 like ksem will probably work
unmodified on i386/xen.

> it's not; they're different "hardware" after all. Again would you consider
> it a bug that there are ABI differences between atari and mac68k ?

I don't have any interest in the atari or mac, however for x86 this is
something that is easily achievable. Rather than waste any more time arguing
about whether or not we should take the path of least resistance, I will
resolve any differences that matter.

Andrew