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LinuxBIOS Boots Linux, OpenBSD, Windows

Posted by timothy on from the with-source dept.

Ivan writes "LinuxBIOS coupled with BOCHS has replaced the PC BIOS. The union of these two cool open source projects completely replaces closed source BIOS, while retaining the ability to boot other operating systems like BSD and Windows. Here's the announcement."

6 of 265 comments (clear)

  1. Re:HURD by The+Original+Yama · · Score: 3, Offtopic

    Microkernels have their pros and cons, with their main con being slower speed due to the greater need for message passing. The open source nature of Linux allows it to have a monolithic design with many microkernel-like properties.

    With that said, GNU/HURD still has a lot going for it. Whereas Linux is essentially a UNIX clone (and there's nothing wrong with that), GNU/HURD is very different. Remember, GNU means "GNU's Not UNIX". There is a great overview of HURD given at KernelTrap.

    --
    OLPC Australia
  2. Re:HURD by 10Ghz · · Score: 1, Offtopic
    Ever heard of the microkernel design? Whereas Linux is a monolithic vintage Unix design, HURD has much more potential in the long run. Better stability, modular easy-to-modify structure and so on.


    Yeah, if they ever manage to get the damn thing out the door! They have been working on it for... what? 12 years? Ironically, "monolithic" is a good word to describe the speed of HURD's developement.

    Furthermore, HURD is a truly pure Free Software operating system. Linux has become tainted by the use of non-free tools like BitKeeper and closed source binary 3rd party drivers. That is not Free Software.


    BS! Linux in 100% pure, GPL-licensed software! Of course there are some drivers that are not open, but that does not make Linux "un-free". Linux is and will always be free. Of course, third-party companies have the right to write closed-source drivers for it (assuming they comply with GPL, and NVIDIA and others do) and you nor anyone else has the right to demand that they open their drivers.

    --
    Lesbian Nazi Hookers Abducted by UFOs and Forced Into Weight Loss Programs - -all next week on Town Talk.
  3. Re:rushed announcement by LordNimon · · Score: 4, Offtopic

    Well, under Windows it might, but it doesn't have to. There is a floppy driver for OS/2, and formatting doesn't use any CPU under OS/2. In fact, formatting floppies while printing, recalculating a large spreadsheet, and playing an audio file without hiccup was one of the early demonstrations of OS/2 at trade shows.

    --
    And the men who hold high places must be the ones who start
    To mold a new reality... closer to the heart
  4. [OT] .sig by Hektor_Troy · · Score: 0, Offtopic
    Jennifer Lopez = "JLo" (pron: "Jay-Low"). Bill Gates = "BGa" (pron: "Be-Gay")
    David Coppperfield = "DCop" (pron: "Dee-cup").
    --
    We do not live in the 21st century. We live in the 20 second century.
  5. Yes, you would by kfg · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    What makes the "Homeland Security Bill" particularly offensive, *particularly* to those who are not either American citizens and/or American residents, is that it, in essence, claims jurisdiction over everyone in the world, without warrant or any sort of due process. "Suspicion" is now worse than actually and overtly commiting a crime.

    Merely being a foriegn citizen inside the borders of your own country and obeying it's laws is no excuse.

    It's a Brave New World.

    KFG

  6. You've been . . . by kfg · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    listening to that stupid song, haven't you?

    KFG