FreeBSD/SPARC Frequently Asked Questions


  1. What happened to the old FAQ?
  2. What is the status of the port? (also "When will it be done?")
  3. What machines will FreeBSD/SPARC run on?
  4. Does FreeBSD/SPARC support device X?
  5. Will FreeBSD/SPARC run Solaris/SunOS binaries?

Do you have a different question, or would you like to assist with the porting efforts? Feel free to join the freebsd-sparc mailing list by sending an email to majordomo@freebsd.org with the words  subscribe freebsd-sparc  as the body.


1.  What happened to the old FAQ?

It's right here. The old FAQ is SME-centric, and sun4u-specific. These traits do not reflect the current state of the port, since Sun Microelectronics has pulled their official support from the port and the majority of development equipment now consists of older Sun SPARC hardware. Furthermore, there haven't been a lot of frequently asked questions, of late. Most of the items in the old FAQ date back to before the mailing list was being archived.

2.  What is the status of the port?

While we're in the early stages, and to help keep people interested in the porting effort, there is a new status page, which will be updated at least weekly. Please check there for the current status.

3.  What machines will FreeBSD/SPARC run on?

Currently? None. The port is a long way from running on anything. We have plans to support every machine we can. It is safe to assume that FreeBSD/SPARC will run on at least all the machines that OpenBSD and NetBSD run on. This includes the following Sun SPARC architectures: sun4, sun4c, sun4m, sun4u.

4.  Does FreeBSD/SPARC support device X?

See FAQ 3.

5.  Will FreeBSD/SPARC run Solaris/SunOS binaries?

It is reasonable to say that FreeBSD/SPARC will provide some Solaris/SunOS emulation. It is too early in the life of the port to answer this any more specifically.


Last modified: January 21, 2000 05:34 EST