From mboxrd@z Thu Jan  1 00:00:00 1970
Date: Sat,  1 Jun 2013 17:02:17 +0200
From: tlaronde@polynum.com
To: Fans of the OS Plan 9 from Bell Labs <9fans@9fans.net>
Message-ID: <20130601150217.GB390@polynum.com>
References: <20130601071926.GA2936@polynum.com>
	<19d2abc3d484343ca1b8c4288d9d0e62@brasstown.quanstro.net>
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Subject: Re: [9fans] ARM and u-boot
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On Sat, Jun 01, 2013 at 09:31:29AM -0400, erik quanstrom wrote:
>
> i have some experience with the marvell ferceron, and they are similar to
> the plug computers/open rd, but most of the memory mapping will be
> different.
>
> if your want your focus to be on the file server, and not porting to arm,
> it would be more efficient to use the existing 386 port.
>

Well, the ARM is now ubiquitous and I don't know if there are x86
(whether 32 or 64 bits) without a FPU (now a GPU is even integrated),
so ARM is something definitively to consider along x86_* now for uses
that don't involve floating point calculus. Fileservers come first to
mind, well terminals too for still a significative number of applications
not needing high 3D rendering (leaving CPU for... computing).

Plus I have the hardware (it was not planned).

And finally, if Plan9 could be used as easily as on the Sheevaplug
on this kind of Iomega appliance, when it comes to price, with
typically two disks of 1, 2 or 4 terabytes, it is an ARM appliance
not more expensive than a sheevaplug, and more widely available...
(not the same size, and producing---to my taste---a lot of heat;
but I had rough times with Iomega software, but if one can get rid
of the software and deal with the hardware...).

--
        Thierry Laronde <tlaronde +AT+ polynum +dot+ com>
                      http://www.kergis.com/
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