Date: 15 Nov 2000 15:24:29 -0500 From: Randell Jesup <rjesup@wgate.com> To: Terry Lambert <tlambert@primenet.com> Cc: wkb@freebie.demon.nl (Wilko Bulte), jhb@FreeBSD.ORG (John Baldwin), phk@FreeBSD.ORG (Poul-Henning Kamp), arch@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: RANDOMDEV inspired realitycheck regarding i386/i486... Message-ID: <ybuofzhgf0i.fsf@jesup.eng.tvol.net.jesup.eng.tvol.net> In-Reply-To: Terry Lambert's message of "Wed, 15 Nov 2000 17:23:26 %2B0000 (GMT)" References: <200011151723.KAA12325@usr01.primenet.com>
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Terry Lambert <tlambert@primenet.com> writes:
>> > What is the current processor of choice for embedded stuff? Is
>> > x86 even a good architecture for embedded work? That is the
>> > only place that I would see the 386 still being alive...
>>
>> x86 has never been a good CPU for embedded. [eyes his trusty books
>> collection for Motorola's 680x0 ;) ]
>
>The Motorola strategy is broken; the processor they are selling
>for Palm Pilots has no MMU. It's no good for most embedded work
>(and is barely good enough for making Palm Pilots unstable with
>one single bad program).
You don't need an MMU in that situation; you merely need good
memory-debugging tools for application writers. We did it on the Amiga; my
average uptime on my development machine (often running buggy/alpha
programs or parts of the OS) was measured in months. In fact, the color
Palms are VERY similar in many ways to Amigas. The trick is just to
develop with a strong epmhasis on failure paths and cleanup.
However, we're getting off-topic; please follow-up my email if you
want to continue.
--
Randell Jesup, Worldgate Communications, ex-Scala, ex-Amiga OS team ('88-94)
rjesup@wgate.com
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