On Fri, Dec 27, 2024 at 01:31:24PM -0800, Paul Lalonde wrote:
>
> That said, now that NVDA has moved a bunch of their "resource manager"
> (read, OS) to the GPU itself and simplified the linux DRM module, the
> driver layer has simplified significantly. I'm not sure I have anywhere
> near the bandwidth it would take to manage a plan9 port of even the
> simplest interfaces, however.
Am I right in thinking that the taxonomy of computers should be
made considering memory and that one can consider that there is a
uniq system when several cores share the same memory (via some MMU)
and that there is a cluster of different systems, connected loosely
or tightly, when they do not share the same memory? i.e. current
computers, with one or more graphic cards, are indeed clusters,
because the GPU is in fact a distinct system (with its own OS so
to speak, and the problem for current OSes being to be able to
"speak" to the GPU system).
The question is then: why an auxiliary system on a card and why not in
fact the GPU system directly on the die, or a general CPU for the
system and the rest of the elements managed by this CPU, this CPU
being the bootable core?---integrated GPU, AFAIK, is not that. (This
is what I call the RISC-V approach, based on what I concluded from
the general presentation of the RISC-V principles.)
And to give an idea of the extent of the problem now for Unices, on
NetBSD, developers imported the whole DRMKMS stuff from Linux and this
code is equal in size to... 50%! of the rest of NetBSD (kernel + userland). And
the problem is that for something like that to work correctly, you
have to have memory management right; but memory management is a
crucial core component, and importing something tied to some alien
memory management is not a way paved with roses...
Just to say that Plan9 has a graphical interface with limitations
and shortcomings. But the Unix state, with the X11 stack, is not
an advantage over Plan9 in this area. And things have changed so
radically that starting afresh is very probably better than having,
supplementary to the rest, to adapt and keep something that is
starting to look like a huge cemetery.
--
Thierry Laronde <tlaronde +AT+ kergis +dot+ com>
http://www.kergis.com/
http://kertex.kergis.com/
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