[nycbug-talk] a project? ChipSetD

[G. Rosamond]

On Mar 10, 2005, at 2:46 PM, G. Rosamond wrote:

> A major issue with getting hardware for all the BSDs is hardware 
> compatibility.  Sure, you could see the supported chipsets, but the 
> manufacturers almost treat it as a secret what chipset is in what 
> hardware.
>
> This came up this morning on OpenBSD-misc, when someone was inquiring 
> about supported hardware.
>
> Now, certainly our awesome dmesgd application 
> (http://nycbug.org/index.php?NAV=dmesgd) goes part of the way on this, 
> but I have an idea for another project.
>
> What if we created something of an online grid which would list 
> chipsets to actual retail hardware.  I know it sounds like an enormous 
> project, but if we could at least start the process, for each of the 
> BSDs, of course, and have a publicly contributed and NYC*BUG 
> administered application, it could be a start.
>

<snip me>

I've had a few discussions offlist, and Mickey (who gave the meeting 
the other night) noted that it's listed in the OBSD man pages.  And 
yes, I know this is the case with FreeBSD also.  But neither of these 
lists is comprehensive, at least referring to the NIC-related man 
pages.  We're looking to provide a large comprehensive list that would 
cover all the projects for a limit-less pieces of hardware.

This list could certainly function as a recipe book for admins or for 
vendors creating boxes for sale as "BSD compatible."

Other thoughts on this?  It would be a perfect complement to dmesgd, 
IMHO.

George