Re: Processor requirements

[Ludovic Courtès]

Hi,

Bas Wijnen <address@hidden> writes:

> Yes, just like 32 bit CPUs. ;-)
>
> We all know what trouble the ext2 translator has because of them.  I think we
> should learn from this that we should not depend on something becoming really
> obsolete.

[...]

> I fully agree that we don't need support for the old hardware initially.  But
> we shouldn't make the mistake to design critical parts of the system in ways
> that cannot be ported without a complete rewrite of large parts of code. 

These two statements seem contradictory.  According to your second
paragraph, mapping a whole filesystem into the ext2 server's address
space can be seen as a mistake because it "cannot be ported [to 32-bit
hardware] without a complete rewrite of large parts of code".

Besides, I think that Free Software in general *must* support "old"
hardware.  At least, it shouldn't participate in the everlasting rush to
new hardware.  That's an ethical problem.

Thanks,
Ludovic.