SPARC Status (Was Re: Secondary Architecture Status?)

[Stephen John Smoogen]

On Mon, May 11, 2009 at 7:14 PM, Tom Lane <tgl at redhat.com> wrote:
> Peter Robinson <pbrobinson at gmail.com> writes:
>>> I would really like to see a proliferation of secondary arches in
>>> Fedora, but I don't think 'workstation' is a viable usage model for
>>> them to get started.  Most will have to focus on the type of hardware
>>> that actually sells for that arch, and yes I realize that can be at
>>> odds with some of the directions Fedora is going.
>
>> I think there are most likely two candidates for a secondary arch
>> other than PPC. The first is sparc where from the server point of view
>> where its probably about as prolific as PPC in that regard. The second
>> would be arm but that is more from the NetBook/MID/Phone/STB
>> perspective where there are quite a few devices in the 500Mhz-1Ghz
>> range with 256-512Mb RAM. With the OLPC X0-1 we've proven that Fedora
>> can run relatively well on that sort of spec, they also tend to be
>> relatively cheap.
>
> The problem that I've got with relegating PPC to a secondary arch is
> exactly that there are few other candidates for arches that will command
> enough interest to force maintainers to pay attention.  And that will
> mean that Fedora becomes an x86 monoculture over time --- apps won't

Well even the PPC is going that way.. other than the PlayStation3
where does someone run into it these days? In fact sadly, where does
someone run into anything but x86 anymore in a platform that is
'hackable'. Yes I love that my soon to be gotten new phone runs
linux.. but typing on a keyboard smaller than a Timex Sinclair doesn't
seem like something I hack on all day.. I run an emulator to hack on
it and then play the hacked version of Tux Racer on it. However this
is more of a moan to the fact that the world is moving towards
99.9999% x86 :(.

[PS I actually miss supporting Alpha and Sparc even though I know they
were less than 1% of the market.. they fixed lots of things.. but
trying to get a hold of one and keeping them running is frickin
expensive.]

-- 
Stephen J Smoogen. -- BSD/GNU/Linux
How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed
in a naughty world. = Shakespeare. "The Merchant of Venice"