From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on inbox.vuxu.org X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-0.8 required=5.0 tests=DKIM_ADSP_CUSTOM_MED, DKIM_INVALID,DKIM_SIGNED,FREEMAIL_FROM,HTML_MESSAGE,MAILING_LIST_MULTI autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 Received: (qmail 22210 invoked from network); 8 Mar 2023 19:05:58 -0000 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (2600:3c01:e000:146::1) by inbox.vuxu.org with ESMTPUTF8; 8 Mar 2023 19:05:58 -0000 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [IPv6:::1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id BDB41412FD; Thu, 9 Mar 2023 05:05:54 +1000 (AEST) Received: from mail-qt1-x829.google.com (mail-qt1-x829.google.com [IPv6:2607:f8b0:4864:20::829]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 55146412FA for ; Thu, 9 Mar 2023 05:05:48 +1000 (AEST) Received: by mail-qt1-x829.google.com with SMTP id s12so19192535qtq.11 for ; Wed, 08 Mar 2023 11:05:48 -0800 (PST) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=20210112; t=1678302347; h=to:subject:message-id:date:from:mime-version:from:to:cc:subject :date:message-id:reply-to; bh=e5RRjjcgJZdBdx2dI8nirO0mx3i5i2Q48zjgLBeKsiY=; b=Lj2mSlOP57p6MkcFxg8XtsAKt87HZqGJpkXToPV5+yIPzw5p/bFjtVTaGnR/f57Gyd GSuBbkg0QPpk3kSyvOdMR2B4e7G6zWgijBopI96U3rpw9EOrY6VKVOyovF+BrJ9Y7bZA iiYWl4PbncHTImjbdsUZ5JTmpQzKCB2QM2bA5mlnY8S5o+WEh4XRaQUJ7a0T/yPCyj6d Sppx5go8z0g+ZshDBD//GtjBnREdigDEgFUTgE5Se95g+lZ/MAdj4PIg++eEf7OUiA1w JORrXklvcGFQcey1mqf3lCR5n5QJX9UIjUvXjkcUyyZWkm9FMJGZV+DFBNObol4cSMkT xLsQ== X-Google-DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=1e100.net; s=20210112; t=1678302347; h=to:subject:message-id:date:from:mime-version:x-gm-message-state :from:to:cc:subject:date:message-id:reply-to; bh=e5RRjjcgJZdBdx2dI8nirO0mx3i5i2Q48zjgLBeKsiY=; b=19go9cS3pnbKE4NagwkHhziRB/nmbIDXgG1eftE6q86evsFohbO11ZCVnH4Ibzshr4 /o5I7TZdmFXUaelU+uy+JAUX1mPaPtLekczTZpqe9IE4zFt5G5aRyLOnLcWWIiAA9AYS oHh3KGSwaZ4errPpj1HbWH8vbhN1p2JuT/R7EMOR9HzuWGT0UHklPbok5H85p8rPaumH Vqa/hnVSFvIQw6j6qQxlIX70KKRBeTKzAZUDJlld4mCHdpAP5GN2IEcheNQJgwsWNlmh Ez4pwtNdte952fyDcyelkNIU++u8T4dc5ywOAAwPWh9TS7r6axZHAEHPlB6rR3Qu0+lb lbhw== X-Gm-Message-State: AO0yUKUrlwUsM32PLKI5FYWT/SOcJ6Qy0FvCh7ugyT9l/Qr9w6SBWLAu Qq2qEbxrJ5lleoDE0tL1ER7IOX8N0hrSrjjOc3xlLkagqU8= X-Google-Smtp-Source: AK7set/rguICgSCOOSz2lESIgudswjIKydOHRPda2W80VeC2EsoLaQGcyIHTfSkQBBjsQStOiYm3cV7hbPL582gR/mo= X-Received: by 2002:ac8:42c1:0:b0:3bf:b9d9:6759 with SMTP id g1-20020ac842c1000000b003bfb9d96759mr3968401qtm.8.1678302346986; Wed, 08 Mar 2023 11:05:46 -0800 (PST) MIME-Version: 1.0 From: ron minnich Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2023 11:05:35 -0800 Message-ID: To: The Eunuchs Hysterical Society Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="00000000000037ca5f05f6683711" Message-ID-Hash: SACXOKPRX7BYQQFR2XD72IINJZANBXKH X-Message-ID-Hash: SACXOKPRX7BYQQFR2XD72IINJZANBXKH X-MailFrom: rminnich@gmail.com X-Mailman-Rule-Misses: dmarc-mitigation; no-senders; approved; emergency; loop; banned-address; member-moderation; nonmember-moderation; administrivia; implicit-dest; max-recipients; max-size; news-moderation; no-subject; digests; suspicious-header X-Mailman-Version: 3.3.6b1 Precedence: list Subject: [TUHS] the wheel of reincarnation goes sideways List-Id: The Unix Heritage Society mailing list Archived-At: List-Archive: List-Help: List-Owner: List-Post: List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: --00000000000037ca5f05f6683711 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" The wheel of reincarnation discussion got me to thinking: What I'm seeing is reversing the rotation of the wheel of reincarnation. Instead of pulling the task (e.g. graphics) from a special purpose device back into the general purpose domain, the general purpose computing domain is pushed into the special purpose device. I first saw this almost 10 years ago with a WLAN modem chip that ran linux on its 4 core cpu, all of it in a tiny package. It was faster, better, and cheaper than its traditional embedded predecessor -- because the software stack was less dedicated and single-company-created. Take Linux, add some stuff, voila! WLAN modem. Now I'm seeing it in peripheral devices that have, not one, but several independent SoCs, all running Linux, on one card. There's even been a recent remote code exploit on, ... an LCD panel. Any of these little devices, with the better part of a 1G flash and a large part of 1G DRAM, dwarfs anything Unix ever ran on. And there are more and more of them, all over the little PCB in a laptop. The evolution of platforms like laptops to becoming full distributed systems continues. The wheel of reincarnation spins counter clockwise -- or sideways? I'm no longer sure the whole idea of the wheel or reincarnation is even applicable. --00000000000037ca5f05f6683711 Content-Type: text/html; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
The wheel of reincarnation discussion got me to thinking:= =C2=A0

What I'm seeing is reversing the rotation of = the wheel of reincarnation. Instead of pulling the task (e.g. graphics) fro= m a special purpose device back into the general purpose domain, the genera= l purpose computing domain is pushed into the special=C2=A0purpose device.= =C2=A0

I first saw this almost 10 years ago with a WLAN modem= chip that ran linux on its 4 core cpu, all of it in a tiny package. It was= faster, better, and cheaper than its traditional embedded predecessor -- b= ecause the software stack was less dedicated and single-company-created. Ta= ke Linux, add some stuff, voila! WLAN modem.=C2=A0

Now I'= m seeing it in peripheral devices that have, not one, but several independe= nt SoCs, all running Linux, on one card. There's even been a recent rem= ote code exploit on, ... an LCD panel.

Any of thes= e little devices, with the better part of a 1G flash and a large part of 1G= DRAM, dwarfs anything Unix ever ran on. And there are more and more of the= m, all over the little PCB in a laptop.

The evolution of = platforms like laptops to becoming full distributed systems continues. The = wheel of reincarnation spins counter clockwise -- or sideways?

I'm no longer sure the whole idea of the wheel or rein= carnation is even applicable.


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