> Sure. Theres' lots of good candidates out there. It's just that PXE is > not one of them. PXE was designed for a world of binary formats and > tiny, incapable network bootstraps, and it was obsolete when it was > designed over a decade ago.
This reminds of a similar situation many years ago: it doesn't help to criticise when a concrete alternative isn't being offered. PXE works, even Plan 9 knows how to deal with it. If there is even one better alternative out there, there sure isn't much support for it. Maybe the wrong metric, but it is a metric that the marketplace understands. Were I as skilled as some of the people on this list, I'd build me a bootstrapping paravirtualiser modelled on the Plan 9 kernel, then provide a device interface just like Plan 9's that all kernels could tie easily into. I'd even dare call it a microkernel if no one can provide a better candidate for that label. Sadly, I doubt I'll ever come even close to what may turn out to be merely a pipe dream. Just some musings while I ponder what to make of the sheevaplug, now that it seems to work... Good work to all who contributed. ++L
