Re: Regarding the ULTRIX and OSF1 compats

> On Mar 9, 2019, at 8:22 AM, Maxime Villard <[email protected]> wrote:
>=20
> New thread, CC'ed to port-pmax@ and port-alpha@, in the continuity of:
>=20
> 	=
https://mail-index.netbsd.org/tech-kern/2019/03/09/msg024754.html
>=20
> Basically, there were talks about retiring COMPAT_ULTRIX and =
COMPAT_OSF1,
> because they are of questionable utility, in addition to being clear =
dead
> wood; as I said, limited use case, no maintenance done in these areas,
> inability to test changes, and the list goes on.
>=20
> So, does anyone have anything to say about that?

I'm completely in favor of removing COMPAT_OSF1 ... it was useful back =
in the early days of the Alpha port because the native toolchain was =
shaky (and there was the whole ECOFF -> ELF transition).  But it was =
never good enough to run many real applications because it doesn't =
implement any of the Mach traps.  To fix it for real, we'd have to =
implement a ton of infrastructure (including MiG), and I don't think =
anyone wants that horror show.

COMPAT_ULTRIX is a much thinner shim on top of of COMPAT_43, similar to =
COMPAT_SUNOS, which we keep around for other reasons, and so I think the =
wood is a little less obviously-dead.  Its biggest wart is having to =
exec ECOFF binaries.  I don't know if anyone is actively using it at =
this point, though.

-- thorpej