Re: Linux Kernel Wish-List

Francisco Rodrigo Escobedo Robles (frer@vnet.es)
Sun, 20 Sep 1998 18:42:08 +0000


Hello all.

> > Java or Forth interpreter in kernel for device drivers. This lets vendors
> > write binary drivers that will work for Intel, Alpha, and whatever else
> > uses the same bus. An interpreted driver without source code is better
> > than no driver at all.
>
> Funny that you're asking .. Recently I ported a Forth interpreter to run as
> standalone program on the ARC firmware of a MIPS machine and since
> today as a loadable module as well. The interpreter I use is pforth,
> a very easy to port Forth public domain implementation than can be hacked to
> run standalong or in very alien environments like Linux kernel very easily.
>
> In both cases I did it for hacking value, but if anybody got real use
> for it, go ahead. In any case real device drivers, that is not on a
> firmware of a board just used for limited purposes like booting should
> be implemented using real code.

OpenFirmware boards have FCode (compiled Forth) as init/driver code for them.
A kernel-based FCode interpreter could be of use for these cards. I have heard
that there are some PCI cards for several architectures already available, but
in the PC world they are rare, not to say inexistent.

Being a Forth enthusiast (although I haven't written any Forth code in years),
I would like to help if there is any interest in this issue. There is an IEEE
Standard for FCode (IEEE-1294 1994, I think), and docs (what I seem to have
lost).

---
Francisco Rodrigo Escobedo Robles - Sending from home
ax25:ea7abo - mailto:frer@vnet.es - http://frer.home.ml.org/
This message is just my opinion right now

- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.rutgers.edu Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/