Re: AW: L4Ka::Pistachio for PowerPC?

This is interesting and good news!  For those of us not on the  
inside, could you or someone else explain the relationship between  
NICTA::L4, Pistachio, and OKL4?  For example, will your work feed  
back into Pistachio as distributed by l4ka.org?

Also, what is the relationship between L4-embedded and X.2?  Is the  
divergence between these intended to be temporary, or are there  
irreconcilable differences between embedded needs and desktop needs?

There is lots of exciting activity in the L4 world, but for someone  
like me who is not affiliated with any of the organizations involved,  
it can be tricky to keep it all straight!

Josh

On Dec 21, 2006, at 7:36 PM, Gernot Heiser wrote:

> 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.
>
>