On Sun, Nov 24, 2013 at 7:06 AM, Finn Thain <fth...@telegraphics.com.au> wrote:
>> m68k computers like Amigas and Ataris have an incredibly large fanbase
>
> m68k was never as "incredibly" popular as (for example) x86. But all
> architectures ultimately die in a commercial sense. If F/OSS process can't
> accomodate a legacy m68k port then how will it handle the present decline
> of x86 or any other architecture?
M68k is one of the old survivors. Probably they're the oldest machines that
can still run a mainline Linux kernel (VAX is older, but not mainlined).
In the mean time, many new architectures emerged, some of them already
died, or are dieing. v850 and h8300 Linux support was dropped, others are
to follow. Many of the (to be) dropped ones were niche architectures, not
readily available in a form to easily hack on. That's what makes m68k
different: Due to its popularity and wide availability, many machines still
exist.
Of course there's still the emotional factor: m68k machines date back
to the time computers had hearts and souls, and were dissimilar to the
later grey PC movement. We were proud owners in a time no one but
a select crowd had computers.
However, I think m68k development still adds value. I find it amazing how
many bugs and portability issues in common code are found while working
on m68k.
Gr{oetje,eeting}s,
Geert
--
Geert Uytterhoeven -- There's lots of Linux beyond ia32 -- ge...@linux-m68k.org
In personal conversations with technical people, I call myself a hacker. But
when I'm talking to journalists I just say "programmer" or something like that.
-- Linus Torvalds
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