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Linux/M68k
- dmitrygr 5mo ago68k outliving 486 support in the kernel will be hilarious
- mulderc 5mo agoI would imagine there are actually more 68k devices out there than 486 and, I am told, the 68k architecture is much more enjoyable to work with.
- wk_end 5mo agoBut it makes a kind of sense, right? There's long been straightforward upgrade paths for 486 users, making the 486 effectively totally obsolete and killing most of the demand for continued support. Whereas 68k machines have effectively become trapped in time, and their users are still going to work to keep support going.
- jrmg 5mo agoIs it still supported? The “News” page on the linked site reads: Current Linux/m68k Releases As of today, the following versions of the Linux/m68k kernel are "current": Linux/m68k 2.0.36, released 5 February 1999, is a stable 2.0 series release. Users of earlier versions should probably upgrade; it's well worth it. Linux/m68k 2.2.10, released 19 July 1999, is a developmental release (despite the 2.2 version number). Linux/m68k 2.4.5, released 5 June 2001, is an experimental release. (More recent patches may be available in the linux-m68k mailing list archives.)
- wk_end 5mo agoWell, this page/project certainly isn't, but Wikipedia says it's still in the kernel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Linux-supported_computer_architectures#Releases https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Linux-supported_comput...
- LocalH 5mo agoThere are files for it in mainline: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/tree/arch/m68k?h=v7.1-rc5 https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/lin...
- Palomides 5mo agoyes, you can still run current debian on a 68k machine
- maximilianburke 5mo agoI love retrocomputing but I never really understood running a modern OS on old hardware. I have System 7.5 on my LC575 and NeXTSTEP 3.3 on my turbo color slab; I could run NetBSD on both, but I could also do that on modern hardware with much better software support (and build times that wouldn't take an epoch). It's cool, and I'll still support it, but I won't understand it :)
- avhception 5mo agoAs someone who mostly gets my retrocomputing kick from running modern software on old RISC hardware, I'll try to explain why that's my thing. Typically, these venerable beasts come from a more "civilized" era of computing, at least that's how I feel. I wasn't around to actually experience it, coming up when real UNIX™ was already pushed to the fringes. I'm completely aware that I'm romanticizing, but for me, there is something about these machines that a PC just still can't exactly match. Trying to move a mouse and typing with broken keyboard layouts through a buggy-as-hell IPMI interface that was somehow bolted to a machine that, from it's inception, never was meant to be operated remotely, just feels like a hack. It might get the job done, and it's cheap, but it most certainly isn't elegant. The PC as a whole just isn't elegant. But these old SUN and IBM machines, they're something different. Tools from professionals, for professionals. With remote management built into the machine from the inception! No stupid GUI with whacky translations in sight! Of course I'm also fascinated by Solaris, AIX and HP-UX and whatnot. But running modern software on these machines has it's own appeal to me. My retrocomputing itch is to show off these machines, experience them. And what better way to do that than to actually use them to host modern software, impress people by showing how capable they still are, maybe as a glimpse into a future that never was.
- queenkjuul 5mo agoSomeday i hope to get Linux running on my Mac LCII... After i replace the power supply, and all the caps.... I was having fun building a custom distro for my 386 until the drive containing all the work died and coincidentally my backups had started failing without me noticing.
- LeFantome 5mo agoIn case you want to get started again.., https://github.com/marmolak/gray386linux https://github.com/marmolak/gray386linux
- rjsw 5mo agoI guess I could contact them to describe how to write an interrupt driven keyboard driver for the late model Macintosh machines. The documentation provided by Apple was incorrect.
- amelius 5mo agoNot recommended for new designs.
- kev009 5mo agoThere's a really good interview with one of the 68060 architects that posted recently https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1takr2k7Yfo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1takr2k7Yfo just sit through the intro trust me it gets deeper than you'd think from the first impression. Probably one of the better CPU interviews I've seen in recent times. He spills some interesting knowledge, the 68060 was a kind of serendipity for Mot that was otherwise winding up the 68k. It was partially acquired and acquihired from an external fabless design startup. Fills in some gaps as to why the CPU wasn't as well known as priors (obviously there were more choices by the time it came out). And a bit of tangents into Coldfire, ARM-M, and RISC-V.
- krige 5mo agoBack in the day it would be great, but in current day, what could I possibly run on my 020 system that would make Linux preferable over the system's original OS and its dedicated (possibly FOSS) software?
- ninefathom 5mo agoVery interesting to see this pop up on HN just after I spent a few days making Alpine/m68k a thing. (just a personal tinker project - don't look for it upstream any time soon unless I get extremely bored)
- snvzz 5mo agoConsider Netbsd. In my experience, it is a much more workable choice on m68k.