Date: Wed, 3 Sep 1997 20:04:13 -0600 (MDT) From: Wes Peters <softweyr@xmission.com> To: Doug White <dwhite@resnet.uoregon.edu> Cc: questions@freebsd.org Subject: 'uname -m' not alpha? (was Re: 'uname -m' not i586?) Message-ID: <199709040204.UAA13569@obie.softweyr.ml.org> In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.3.96.970901222635.3114B-100000@localhost> References: <Pine.BSF.3.96.970901162505.309A-100000@cody.usls.edu> <Pine.BSF.3.96.970901222635.3114B-100000@localhost>
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Doug White writes:
> The `machine' identifies the architecture under which the kernel is
> designed to run under. Since FreeBSD is designed to run under the Intel
> i386 architecture (386 and compatible processors) it will report 'i386.'
> This is also used to define machine-dependent code in the kernel to
> compile, ie there is a /usr/src/sys/i386 heirarchy. In the future DEC
> Alpha port there will be a machine type `alpha' in addition to `i386.'
Hmm... Does anyone know what Digital UNIX (nee OSF/1) reports as the
architecture for this machine? I suspect it is probably "axp", and
contend we should probably mimic the DEC system if it's not too big a
change at this point.
For those who remember when DEC ruled the world of minicomputers, AXP
has a nice "callback." Rumor has it, when DEC applied for a trademark
on "Alpha" and was told they couldn't trademark it, the "AXP" moniker
was brought up by some of the old-timers on the hardware side. Why
"AXP?" It stands for (according to the scuttlebutt) "Almost eXactly
Prism." I'll leave it up to Bill Pechter to explain what Prism was.
--
"Where am I, and what am I doing in this handbasket?"
Wes Peters Softweyr LLC
http://www.xmission.com/~softweyr softweyr@xmission.com
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