2 Jun
2013
2 Jun
'13
4:04 a.m.
On 2 June 2013 04:27, Tothwolf <tothwolf at concentric.net> wrote:
It isn't quite what I'm looking for. I've
yet to find a currently maintained
Linux distribution that does what I need and isn't bloated in userspace. I'm
looking more for what a Linux distribution once was in the late 1990s, with
full (advanced) networking support, plus normal network services, and still
have a small userspace footprint (and low memory usage).
Time moves on. Software develops. This means it grows.
Are there /any/ currently maintained Linux
distributions out there these
days that are geared towards embedded use where they don't blindly assume
multiple GB of memory and drive space?
Not that I am aware of, no.
Surely I'm not the only one looking
for something like this?
Well, no. But there is a general trend, and it is that the hardware is
"rising up" to meet the needs of the modern software. When a 32-bit
CPU, a few gigabytes of Flash storage and a half a gig of RAM gives
you a usable system with Linux 3.x and a normal userspace for a cost
of a few US dollars, why bother doing tons of work to cut it down?
I mean, look at this, as an example:
http://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=3040
That's a complete working cellphone with a 260MHz 32-bit processor,
8MiB of RAM, quadband with Bluetooth, sold at a profit for US$12, no
subsidy or bundle or anything. Total materials cost, under US$10.
Within a couple of years, that price point will mean a full Android smartphone.
Why bother jumping through hoops?
In re embedding Linux, you may find some info here:
http://elinux.org/Main_Page
But from what you say, I think you are doomed to disappointment.
The lack of i386 support with TC isn't very
encouraging, either (they state
i486 as a minimum, which is the same as modern Debian, et al.) I have boxes
upon boxes of i386 stuff and I'd hate to at some point have to create a
separately maintained fork of the Linux kernel just to keep them supported
(everything from Intel 80386SX-16 to AMD 386DX-40, with and without FPUs).
The idea of using either an obsolete (and likely unmaintained) Linux kernel
or MS-DOS on them isn't terribly appealing.
You do realise that kernel 3.8 explicitly dropped support for 80386?
It's now 80486 or above.
The actual i386 is long dead; it came out nearly 30y ago. It's
completely dead in the embedded space - ARM or Geode offer far better
performance, price:performance and performance/Watt.
--
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