[Oberon] RISC.img format

[Jörg]

Lars

Did you ever program an Operating System yourself?
I agree that USB is nice to "USE" as end-user but not quite as simple to
"PROGRAM" as OS developer.

Just for your information:
- The whole ProjectOberon OS (memory handler, SPI access, display handler,
window handler, memory handler, file system, dynamic loading, fonts..)
consists of 190kB of source code.
- In NativeOberon, USB is implemented. It needs roughly 190kB of source
code. Only for USB!

br
Jörg

-----Original Message-----
From: Oberon [mailto:oberon-bounces at lists.inf.ethz.ch] On Behalf Of Lars
Sent: Montag, 15. Februar 2016 11:18
To: ETH Oberon and related systems <oberon at lists.inf.ethz.ch>
Subject: Re: [Oberon] RISC.img format

On Sat, February 13, 2016 12:12 pm, enso wrote:
> Unlike USB and HDMI, you can use a few FPGA pins directly connected to
> the port and no proprietary 'black boxes'.
>
> Like VGA and PS/2, these are from a simpler time, before businesses
> blindly followed the Jobsian obfuscation requirements to keep 'consumers'
> from 'looking under the hood' or 'knowing what they want'.

However, USB has simplified products so that we no longer have to run
around finding a parallel cable, a printer cable, a serial cable - it's
universal. I remember I first rejected USB when it came out as a gimmick.
Now look at all the devices that are USB. I was stubborn and purposely
bought devices that were not USB, such as my Force RS ACT LABS steering
wheel. It had a serial option (not ps/2).  You can't ignore the fact that
USB has greatly simplified cabling.  No longer do we go out and buy bulky
wasteful parallel printer cables since serial wasn't good enough (try
running a printer off PS/2? why didn't they?).

Regarding VGA: what about DVI. Is this obfuscated? One of the reasons they
abandoned VGA was because it is analog. Are you arguing for analog over
digital? in this case, do you think we should abandon Intel chips and go
back to analog computers too, as they may have truly been simpler. After
all, intel chips are just black boxes melted together. You can't take a
peak into the intel chip like you can an old analog computer... At some
point you have to admit that blackboxes can be very useful tools to get
where you need to go, such as not requiring knowing absolutely everything
about internal combustion engines every time you start you car. Now I know
quite a bit about cars, but the question is, should I literally be
thinking about every engine movement and physics equation each time I
drive my car to get milk, eggs, or spinach (preferably stringy kind).
--
Oberon at lists.inf.ethz.ch mailing list for ETH Oberon and related systems
https://lists.inf.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/oberon
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