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* [TUHS] Origins of the frame buffer device
@ 2023-03-05 15:01 Paul Ruizendaal via TUHS
  2023-03-05 17:29 ` [TUHS] " Grant Taylor via TUHS
                   ` (2 more replies)
  0 siblings, 3 replies; 40+ messages in thread
From: Paul Ruizendaal via TUHS @ 2023-03-05 15:01 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: tuhs

I am confused on the history of the frame buffer device.

On Linux, it seems that /dev/fbdev originated in 1999 from work done by  Martin Schaller and  Geert Uytterhoeven (and some input from Fabrice Bellard?).

However, it would seem at first glance that early SunOS also had a frame buffer device (/dev/cgoneX. /dev/bwoneX, etc.) which was similar in nature (a character device that could be mmap’ed to give access to the hardware frame buffer, and ioctl’s to probe and configure the hardware). Is that correct, or were these entirely different in nature?

Paul


^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 40+ messages in thread
* [TUHS] Re: Origins of the frame buffer device
@ 2023-03-05 18:52 Noel Chiappa
  2023-03-05 20:43 ` Rob Pike
                   ` (2 more replies)
  0 siblings, 3 replies; 40+ messages in thread
From: Noel Chiappa @ 2023-03-05 18:52 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: tuhs

    > From: Kenneth Goodwin

    > The first frame buffers from Evans and Sutherland were at University of
    > Utah, DOD SITES and NYIT CGL as I recall.
    > Circa 1974 to 1978.

Were those on PDP-11's, or PDP-10's? (Really early E+S gear attached to
PDP-10's; '74-'78 sounds like an interim period.)

	  Noel


^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 40+ messages in thread
* [TUHS] Re: Origins of the frame buffer device
@ 2023-03-06 23:16 Norman Wilson
  2023-03-06 23:24 ` Larry McVoy
  0 siblings, 1 reply; 40+ messages in thread
From: Norman Wilson @ 2023-03-06 23:16 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: tuhs

Rob Pike:

  As observed by many others, there is far more grunt today in the graphics
  card than the CPU, which in Sutherland's timeline would mean it was time to
  push that power back to the CPU. But no.

====

Indeed.  Instead we are evolving ways to use graphics cards to
do general-purpose computation, and assembling systems that have
many graphics cards not to do graphics but to crunch numbers.

My current responsibilities include running a small stable of
those, because certain computer-science courses consider it
important that students learn to use them.

I sometimes wonder when someone will think of adding secondary
storage and memory management and network interfaces to GPUs,
and push to run Windows on them.

Norman Wilson
Toronto ON

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 40+ messages in thread

end of thread, other threads:[~2023-03-10  1:45 UTC | newest]

Thread overview: 40+ messages (download: mbox.gz / follow: Atom feed)
-- links below jump to the message on this page --
2023-03-05 15:01 [TUHS] Origins of the frame buffer device Paul Ruizendaal via TUHS
2023-03-05 17:29 ` [TUHS] " Grant Taylor via TUHS
2023-03-05 18:25 ` Kenneth Goodwin
2023-03-06  8:51   ` Paul Ruizendaal via TUHS
2023-03-06  8:57     ` Rob Pike
2023-03-06 11:09       ` Henry Bent
2023-03-06 16:02         ` Theodore Ts'o
2023-03-06 22:47       ` Paul Ruizendaal via TUHS
2023-03-06 23:10         ` Rob Pike
2023-03-08 12:53           ` Paul Ruizendaal
2023-03-08 14:23             ` Dan Cross
2023-03-08 15:06               ` Paul Ruizendaal
2023-03-08 19:35                 ` Dan Cross
2023-03-08 16:55               ` Theodore Ts'o
2023-03-08 17:46                 ` Clem Cole
2023-03-08 17:45               ` Clem Cole
2023-03-08 18:12                 ` segaloco via TUHS
2023-03-08 18:21                   ` Larry McVoy
2023-03-08 18:43                     ` Kenneth Goodwin
2023-03-08 18:45                     ` Steffen Nurpmeso
2023-03-08 22:44                     ` Clem Cole
2023-03-09 14:42                 ` Paul Winalski
2023-03-06 23:20         ` segaloco via TUHS
2023-03-07  1:24     ` Kenneth Goodwin
2023-03-08  3:07     ` Rob Gingell
2023-03-08 12:51       ` Paul Ruizendaal via TUHS
2023-03-08 13:05         ` Warner Losh
2023-03-08 13:17         ` Arno Griffioen via TUHS
2023-03-07  1:54 ` Kenneth Goodwin
2023-03-05 18:52 Noel Chiappa
2023-03-05 20:43 ` Rob Pike
2023-03-06 10:43   ` Jonathan Gray
2023-03-07  1:21 ` Kenneth Goodwin
2023-03-08  5:43 ` Lars Brinkhoff
2023-03-09 23:24   ` emanuel stiebler
2023-03-10  1:44     ` Lawrence Stewart
2023-03-06 23:16 Norman Wilson
2023-03-06 23:24 ` Larry McVoy
2023-03-07 12:08   ` arnold
2023-03-07 16:42   ` Theodore Ts'o

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