4 ms·
I saw that module, looked at the code, and wondered if at that point it wouldn't be easier to just run a thin wrapper around the virtual 8086 code while just us
by leeter 5y ago
I saw that module, looked at the code, and wondered if at that point it wouldn't be easier to just run a thin wrapper around the virtual 8086 code while just using standard virtualization extensions. That way it's just another KVM and not yet more kernel code to maintain. Because honestly QEMU already supports that target. This is of course ignoring the many issues caused by faster CPUs or things the target program is expecting but no longer exist or act differently on modern CPUs.
- AshamedCaptain 5y agoWell, there is a rather straightforward explanation: virtualization extensions did not exist, and in fact would not exist for another 5 years at least. Actually, now that I think of it, having KVM capable of running real mode DOS is a rather recent development. Looking at you, AMD, but even early Intel VT-x didn't get it right until 2010ish (Westmere). Anyway, dosemu2 does exactly that (use KVM to run a lightweight kernel that just enters vm86).