>> > so, in the future mdk is going to have:
>> > - i586
>> > - ia64
>> > - x64 (amd 64bit)
>> > - ppc
>> > (- alpha?)
>> > (- sparc?)
>> >
>> > with the way mdk is currently working they won't be able to handle
>> it.
>>
>> Who said we were going to? I suppose ia64 and x64 are likely,
With the way things are going now, I doubt that mdk has the manpower to
maintain anything more than i586 at the moment.
>> but alpha and sparc? Those I sincerely doubt.
That's why it was typed between "(" ")" and a question mark was added.
With a little fantasy I could add a list of other archs that could be
done, but mdk had already brought out alpha and sparc port before. Alpha
is still being maintained a bit by me --> just to prove that it _can_ be
done --> one you have a kernel, c library, and the compiler for an arch
you can (re-)build the distro on it, automated.
Point is, if you want to support more than one port, in a serious way,
then you need to start doing things differently. I think they need to
further automate the build process, bring in more regression testing of
the packages, etc. Forget uploading binaries. Only upload the src.rpm's
and let the backend build the binaries (on multiple platforms).
>> I also don't see why we would want them to begin with. How many
>> desktop users do you know that use an alpha or sparc at home on their
>> desktop? =)
>
> Me :-)
Me too :-)
> Okay, more precisely: not yet, but I am going to. The Alpha is a
> retired server.
FYI: HP just brought out new alpha machines this week... EV7 based CPU's,
blows ia64 out of the water --> nothing new in that respect. HP is trying
to downplay & keep quite the performance numbers of the alpha in favour of
ia64.
It's true that alpha and sparc are used as workstation and servers, not as
consumer desktops.
> Hm. Always presumed I find the time, is there anything I can do to
> contribute via this machine? Testing? Recompiling something? Whatever?
What kind of box do you have?
Stefan
