[fpc-pascal] SPARC / Linux

[tobiasgiesen at gmail.com]

Hello,
many thanks for the info! So if I explore the UltraSPARC platform, I guess I will
stick with the available older binary release of FPC. I think it will be able to compile
my software with minimal changes.

I wonder if I compile something on an UltraSPARC server, if the compiled program
would run on a NetGear ReadyNAS Duo with Infrant IT3107 Sparc processor? Do
you know?

Cheers,
Tobias Giesen

----

On Sat, 11 Mar 2017 20:06:24 +0000
Mark Morgan Lloyd <markMLl.fpc-pascal at telemetry.co.uk> wrote:

> On 11/03/17 18:00, tobiasgiesen at gmail.com wrote:
> > Hello,
> > I noticed there is no binary FPC 3.0.2 Linux release for SPARC. Should it be possible to compile it for SPARC, possibly using the older binary 2.6.2 release?
> > If yes, I am interested in buying a used UltraSPARC system. If it has a DVD-ROM and avideo board, it should be easy to install Linux on it, is that correct?
> > Cheers,Tobias Giesen
> 
>  From the FPC side of things, I think that I tested 2.6.4 on SPARC but I 
> can't remember how far I progressed into 2.6.4 or whether I touched 3.0 
> at all. I have no immediate (i.e. this weekend) plans to revisit the 
> architecture, same applies to Solaris.
> 
>  From the architecture side of things, Linux (which in practice means 
> Debian) is in deep trouble on SPARC. The core problem is that for the 
> last 10 years or so the kernel has been 64-bit with 32-bit "userland", 
> but that is now unsupportable and there is frenzied activity from a very 
> small number of developers trying to get the entire thing 64-bit. How 
> FPC will behave on that is, of course, anybody's guess.
> 
> So quite frankly, you're likely to find that the last mostly-reliable 
> Linux to run on SPARC is approximately Debian "Lenny", and you will also 
> find that the age of the system libraries on that will gradually make 
> supporting FPC on it a problem. You /might/ be able to start with Lenny 
> and update to Squeeze or later, but my experience with Debian SPARC 
> installation media post-Lenny was deeply frustrating.
> 
> Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings. SPARC systems can be great fun, 
> particularly in cold weather :-)
> 
> -- 
> Mark Morgan Lloyd
> markMLl .AT. telemetry.co .DOT. uk
> 
> [Opinions above are the author's, not those of his employers or colleagues]
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Kind Regards,
Tobias Giesen

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