Al Boldi wrote:
The problem with the current tiny-kernel approach is that, it can't get nearly as tiny as filo. And when you have legacy systems like i440bx with only 256kb flash, then tiny-kernel becomes a definite no go, which make filo the only viable solution.
What we really need is a stripped down tiny-kernel. IOW, a single-proc kernel-stub with its sole purpose to provide access to the large linux driver pool. Later, this could conceivably be inlined with the LinuxBIOS code-base, making LinuxBIOS really a BIOS that makes use of linux.
I don't have good memories on this approach: MILO, the Alpha Linux bootloader, did exactly that. Been there, done that. I made such a stub for Kernels 2.2 and 2.4.
The one disadvantage of all Linux as Bootloader approaches is that you can not really fit any decent amount of drivers into any existing system flash. Yes it has been done as a proof-of-concept but as far as I know Linux-as-bootloader never made it into any product (that I know of)
Ripping the scheduler out of Linux will get us space for another half to full driver ... But creating a flexible ROM that allows to use all SCSI controllers and boot a number of operating systems, will always fail. The SCSI drivers of Linux alone are more than 30MByte. Even with 128MBit parts we don't come anywhere close.
Don't get me wrong. I do like the L-A-B approach. It's just not the solution to all problems.
Stefan