4 ms·

I'm surprised at how m68k was rescued from oblivion in 2013... Who is using it?

pmarin 7y ago
I think Thorsten Glaser resurrected the port because he wanted to test his shell (the MirBSD Korn shell) on m68k. Many other people also helped of course.
boomlinde 7y ago
I suspected that it had something to do with ColdFire. It seems that was partly true, but another interesting factor was apparently ARAnyM (an Atari 68k ST/TT/Falcon emulator) which can conveniently run a Linux system: https://grep.be/blog/en/computer/debian/m68k/arrakis/ https://grep.be/blog/en/computer/debian/m68k/arrakis/
- 0815test 7y ago
  There's also the Apollo core used in the Vampire accelerator, that's much faster than anything else m68k, and even faster than ColdFire.
  - boomlinde 7y ago
    Yes, but that doesn't explain the m68k porting effort of 2013. The Apollo core doesn't have an MMU so it won't run Linux.
    - wolf550e 7y ago
      I thought m68k/nommu exists and is used?
      - boomlinde 7y ago
        That's true and I didn't know of that. That said, the Amiga configuration depends on an MMU. I don't know how hard it would be to retarget it for an MMU-less system.
    - monocasa 7y ago
      Wait, even a 68040 embedded the MMU on die. The Apollo core doesn't have a MMU?
      - boomlinde 7y ago
        I frequently see it advertised as not having an MMU, but it turns out that it does...it's just that it's a new design that isn't Motorola compatible. On Amiga, where programs typically all live in the same shared memory space, this is not a great concern for a regular user. It could be useful for developers and some specialist applications, and of course for more modern OS models.
        snvzz 7y ago
        Apollo-Core could certainly use better documentation. I own a V500v2+ and it's an awesome board, but this kind of thing drives me nuts. It has other silly limitations, such as the kickstart being embedded in the fpga core, which is not open source. There's no way for an user to boot to a custom kickstart; At most, it's possible to softkick one after first boot.
- znpy 7y ago
  I used to run Debian/68k under aranym... Thanks Pelagatti
snvzz 7y ago
Amiga users (like me), Atari users, x68000 users and mac classic users, among others. Some of these are using netbsd/m68k (like me), with some overlap.
- ekianjo 7y ago
  Are you using mainly Debian on the command line on m68k, or actually running a GUI?
  - snvzz 7y ago
    Currently away from my A1200 so I haven't touched it in ~3yr. I'm hoping to move my A1200 to my current location soon and install current versions. The A500+ and A600 I have with me do not have a capable (MMU) CPU. The last time I had cli-only on Debian (couldn't get X to work), and had X on netbsd. No GPU, just AGA. Any GPU would make X much easier AIUI.

I think Thorsten Glaser resurrected the port because he wanted to test his shell (the MirBSD Korn shell) on m68k. Many other people also helped of course.

boomlinde 7y ago

I suspected that it had something to do with ColdFire. It seems that was partly true, but another interesting factor was apparently ARAnyM (an Atari 68k ST/TT/Falcon emulator) which can conveniently run a Linux system: https://grep.be/blog/en/computer/debian/m68k/arrakis/ https://grep.be/blog/en/computer/debian/m68k/arrakis/

0815test 7y ago
There's also the Apollo core used in the Vampire accelerator, that's much faster than anything else m68k, and even faster than ColdFire.
- boomlinde 7y ago
  Yes, but that doesn't explain the m68k porting effort of 2013. The Apollo core doesn't have an MMU so it won't run Linux.
  - wolf550e 7y ago
    I thought m68k/nommu exists and is used?
    - boomlinde 7y ago
      That's true and I didn't know of that. That said, the Amiga configuration depends on an MMU. I don't know how hard it would be to retarget it for an MMU-less system.
  - monocasa 7y ago
    Wait, even a 68040 embedded the MMU on die. The Apollo core doesn't have a MMU?
    - boomlinde 7y ago
      I frequently see it advertised as not having an MMU, but it turns out that it does...it's just that it's a new design that isn't Motorola compatible. On Amiga, where programs typically all live in the same shared memory space, this is not a great concern for a regular user. It could be useful for developers and some specialist applications, and of course for more modern OS models.
      - snvzz 7y ago
        Apollo-Core could certainly use better documentation. I own a V500v2+ and it's an awesome board, but this kind of thing drives me nuts. It has other silly limitations, such as the kickstart being embedded in the fpga core, which is not open source. There's no way for an user to boot to a custom kickstart; At most, it's possible to softkick one after first boot.
znpy 7y ago
I used to run Debian/68k under aranym... Thanks Pelagatti

snvzz 7y ago

Amiga users (like me), Atari users, x68000 users and mac classic users, among others. Some of these are using netbsd/m68k (like me), with some overlap.

ekianjo 7y ago
Are you using mainly Debian on the command line on m68k, or actually running a GUI?
- snvzz 7y ago
  Currently away from my A1200 so I haven't touched it in ~3yr. I'm hoping to move my A1200 to my current location soon and install current versions. The A500+ and A600 I have with me do not have a capable (MMU) CPU. The last time I had cli-only on Debian (couldn't get X to work), and had X on netbsd. No GPU, just AGA. Any GPU would make X much easier AIUI.