Date: Fri, 10 Nov 1995 06:23:21 -0800 From: "Jordan K. Hubbard" <jkh@time.cdrom.com> To: Jerry.Kendall@vmicls.com (Jerry Kendall) Cc: julian@ref.tfs.com, freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Compiling Linux Binaries under FreeBSD Message-ID: <19045.816013401@time.cdrom.com> In-Reply-To: Your message of "Fri, 10 Nov 1995 08:52:05 %2B0500." <9511101352.AA07120.gonzo@vmicls.com>
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> Not a complaint here, BUT, why would someone want to > compile and run all the LINUX binaries while running FreeBSD ??? I don't think there are many good reasons. In fact, I'll run the risk of offending a few people by saying that it'd be downright stupid. Being able to RUN Linux binaries is a perfectly good idea, if only so that you don't have to go bowing and scraping to every application vendor who doesn't even see FreeBSD as a blip on their screens to somehow do a native port. If we can run the Linux version of their software, we win. Sure, we'd like native ports of everything under the sun but it just ain't going to happen unless we happen to grow to ten times our current size and also populate the bookstores with enough FreeBSD books to deforest half of Borneo, as Linux has managed to do. Those are the kinds of things that sway a ISV (well, that or a very fat contract from someone demanding such support). But linux emulation doesn't mean that we have to go whole-hog and make it possible to cross compile an entire working Linux system from a FreeBSD box. That's what I referred to as stupid. It would be far easier and *less failure prone* to simply load Linux on its own partition and switch over. The introduction of ext2fs into -current also makes the idea of sharing files and other resources while booted into one or the other much more practical. I'm sure if someone really worked hard enough they could probably come up with a reasonably convincing argument for how a full linux cross-compilation environment would make their lives easier, but it's take a lot more than that to convince me that this makes sense for the general populace. Being able to run things like Linux Wingz, WordPerfect or the Caldera desktop - now THAT makes sense. Jordan
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