[talk] LiteBSD and RetroBSD: the hardware for the July meeting

[Brian Callahan]

On 6/22/2016 8:32 PM, George Rosamond wrote:
> On 06/22/16 19:15, Brian Callahan wrote:
>> One other thing to note (inline):
>>
>> On 6/22/2016 7:12 PM, Brian Callahan wrote:
>>> Hi everyone --
>>>
>>> I'm doing next month's meeting on RetroBSD and LiteBSD. The hardware
>>> these things run on are cheap and readily available, and likely the
>>> meeting will be much more fun if people are hacking along with me.
> Ah, the long awaited "get hardware to get involved email"...
>
> :)
>
> comments inline.
>
>>> So here's a list of hardware depending on whether or not you want to run
>>> RetroBSD or LiteBSD. If you need help deciding, RetroBSD is a port of
>>> 2.11BSD and LiteBSD is a 4.4BSD-Lite2 based OS (like all the modern big
>>> BSDs).
>>>
>>> No matter what, you'll need a microSD card.
>>>
>>> RetroBSD:
>>> http://retrobsd.org/wiki/doku.php/board/index
>>> I recommend the Olimex PIC32-RetroBSD and the chipKIT Max32. Keep in
>>> mind that if you go with the Max32, you'll need an Arduino Ethernet
>>> shield R3 (for its microSD card slot).
>>>
>>> LiteBSD:
>>> http://litebsd.org/
>>> I recommend the chipKIT WiFIRE board and the Olimex EMZ64. If you buy
>>> the EMZ64 you will need their UEXT to USB RS232 adapter:
>>> https://www.olimex.com/Products/Modules/Interface/MOD-USB-RS232/open-source-hardware
>>> -- alternatively, you could use telnet to access the EMZ64 (this is
>>> indeed what I do with my EMZ64) but it is slower and you'll need a switch.
>> The EMZ64 requires a chipKIT external programmer to flash the kernel
>> onto the board. The WiFIRE does not need any external equipment to get
>> LiteBSD onto it (and neither of the recommended RetroBSD boards need an
>> external programmer either). I'm happy to bring my PICkit3 programmer to
>> the meeting for people.
> In order to make sure people can flash/access their hardware, can you be
> sure to have all necessary cables, a switch, etc?

Yes I'll bring all the needed hardware.

> I'm hoping we can be hands-on during or after the meeting.
>
>>> I do ask that if you purchase from Olimex, you mention me. Olimex has
>>> been great with supporting the RetroBSD and LiteBSD communities and it
>>> would be nice to show them that we RetroBSD/LiteBSD devs are
>>> contributing back to them. Their hardware is also all Open Hardware,
>>> which I think is nice.
> Better yet, mention Brian C, these BSDs and that you're going to be at a
> NYC*BUG hackathon on July 6.
>
>>> Also, as of this morning, LiteBSD builds on FreeBSD! I will be
>>> submitting a port to build the LiteBSD toolchain, but I can provide a
>>> (10.x) binary for those who want to play around before the meeting.
> What about OpenBSD?  I thought you mentioned it also as a build system?

Haven't pushed it into the build system yet for OpenBSD. There's a
compile problem I haven't tracked down yet.

> (previously, the images could only be compiled from Windows and Linux IIRC)

Linux and Mac OS X, actually. Not Windows.

>>> Hope to see everyone out for the meeting with hardware!
> Very much looking forward to the meeting.
>
> Maybe give us an outline of what you intend to cover?
>

And spoil the meeting??? :)
I'll cover the history of both, then I guess overview the features of
RetroBSD and LiteBSD separately, outline the LiteBSD ports tree, discuss
future plans for both (and my wish list for what I'd like to see in each
going forward), and talk about how to get involved in the projects.
If we have enough hardware around, we can finish up with a big group
installfest :)

~Brian