Re: AW: L4Ka::Pistachio for PowerPC?

Sorry for the delayed response...

NICTA is spinning out L4 development into Open Kernel Labs (OKL), a
company specifically set up to commercialise our microkernel
technology. Research in NICTA's ERTOS program will continue to push
the state of the art of microkernels and microkernel-based systems.

An implication of this is that there is now professional support
available for our L4 version, OKL4 (which is what NICTA::L4-embedded
is morphing into). Obviously, OKL will charge for such support, but
plans on keeping the kernel available as open source.

Another implication is that the development is now much stronger
driven by market demands. Presently there is strong demand for OKL4 on
ARM, x86 and MIPS platforms, so PPC is receiving somewhat less
attention. This may change quickly, though.

In any case, it isn't true that PPC "wasn't fitted in", in fact, a
paper about to be published specifically discusses how PPC-style
segmentation can be supported cleanly in the model for the first time
(see http://ertos.nicta.com.au/events/07/0116-mikes-program.pml).

It is true that we did not maintain the G4 port, and haven't yet
released the PPC-embedded port, as this hasn't been a priority until
now. We do plan to release a PPC-embedded port, but cannot commit to a
date at this time.

Gernot
--
Gernot Heiser
Founder and CTO			    +61 2 8306 0550
Open Kernel Labs, Inc	            http://ok-labs.com

Professor of Operating Systems	    Program Leader
University of New South Wales       Embedded, Real-Time, and Operating Systems
Sydney, Australia		    National ICT Australia (NICTA)
http://gernot.web.cse.unsw.edu.au   http://ertos.nicta.com.au



>>>>> On Wed, 6 Dec 2006 10:09:38 +0100, "Christian, Martin, OPEE45" <[email protected]> said:
CMO> Hi!
CMO> Thanks for all the status reports. At least some still have PowerPC in
CMO> their mind.

>> I was under the impression that some people in Sydney occasionally use
CMO> PowerPC.
CMO> In the beginning I was comparing L4Ka::Pistachio to NICTA::Pistachio.
CMO> But they changed the L4 specification and didn't fit the PowerPC to it.
CMO> Since I was bound to PowerPC, L4Ka::Pistachio seemed to be the best
CMO> choice. I "only" need to do the platform port and not the architecture.
CMO> But since I want to run a Linux on top of Pistachio, I might have to
CMO> move anyways.

CMO> @Gernot: Is that the "offical" status of NICTA::Pistachio? So there is
CMO> no need to ask at the NICTA mailing list for a status of the PowerPC
CMO> port?

>> I sadly have no time to even answer my personal e-mails.
CMO> So at least I know now, it were not my questions. :-)

CMO> If there is nobody left with PowerPC experience, would there
CMO> nevertheless be someone to send patches to?

CMO> Thanks again,

CMO> Martin.