[nycbug-talk] kernels

mlists at bizintegrators.com mlists
Thu Jun 3 02:07:35 EDT 2004


On Wed, Jun 02, 2004 at 08:48:26PM -0500, Pete Wright wrote:
> boy i wish i was at the bug and not doing a night shift :(  here is an 
> interesting link regarding monolithic kernels relating to OpenBSD:
> 
> http://kerneltrap.org/comment/reply/3239
> 
> i pretty much agree with alot of the issues raised, but in my industry i 
> need fully funtional 3D drivers provided by nvidia for linux.  yea it 
> sucks that they are not GPL'd, but hey it's better than using NT for 
> Maya....
> 

They seem to have missed one important post on the list.
Here it is, from Kamo Hiroyasu <wd at ics.nara-wu.ac.jp>
"
Chuck, you are misusing the term `monolithic'.  A monolithic kernel
with loadable modules is still a monolithic kernel because the loaded
codes will run on the kernel space.  It is far from a micro kernel.
That implies: you cannot gain any advantage of mocro kernels from
loadable modules.

Please consult any textbook on operating systems for detail.

                Kamo Hiroyasu
                [Kamo is the family name and Hiroyasu the given name.]

"

Therefore, Linux kernel is also monolithic.

I'm very gratefull for OpenBSD's integrity, meaning things like binary
only drivers will never be accepted.

-bruno




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