What is the difficulty in porting between Unix-like OSes?

I would like to map the difficulty in porting most, if not all packages from Debian between UNIX-like operating systems for example. One could clean the source of said packages to programming language standards and use platform independent libraries (POSIX and the like). Perhaps it would be beneficial to insert some abstraction layers to aid in achieving our goal. What else is needed? I would need to find out how the OpenBSD, Minix and Debian/kFreeBSD guys have been doing it until now. Wouldn't it be nice if you wrote a new kenel and every one of the applications that you are used to just got "magically" ported almost right away?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tftp secret of TL-WR740N uncovered

I've found out that even this particular entry level router supports anti-bricking, so there's no need for soldering, unless of course you are modding. The method I used is the following: Set up a tftp server  on your PC and verify if it works correctly (configuration, permissions, firewalls, etc.) Rename your target firmware to wr740v4_tp_recovery.bin and copy it to your base folder (by default /tftpboot). I tested with openwrt-ar71xx-generic-tl-wr740n-v4-squashfs-factory.bin r43602. Set up the following static IP for your PC: 192.168.0.66 /255.255.255.0. If you're not sure about the firmware name on a different model, start a packet sniffer on your PC ( tcpdump -i eth0 -n -l ) and look for the name in the RRQ message. Preferably disconnect WAN from the router Connect the PC to a LAN port Power off the router Press and hold the reset button Power on the router After the leftmost (power) LED and the rightmost (padlock) LED turn on alone in a few seconds, release
Read more

Hidden TFTP of TP-Link routers

I did some more investigation after the positive results with the TL-WR740Nv4  (click the link to get introduced to the way of recovery). Most users report that devices and firmware updates released after a point in time usually have this mode enabled. If a firmware update is available from the vendor for your device, it's a good idea to apply that update before installing OpenWRT or dd-wrt UNLESS you own something for which upgrading will ensure incompatible with OpenWrt, like a TL-WR730N , and possible some other models (please report). Note that some old models have newer updates in different languages, those may also be worth a try ( TODO : compatibility?). Also remember that later on, tftp recovery will need a type of firmware image without a boot loader, so strip it with dd if yours has it ( grep U-Boot , or check the filename). Positive reported claims so far (personal results highlighted): TL-WDR4300 router 192.168.0.86 server 192.168.0.66 query wdr4300v1_tp_recovery.b
Read more

Haskell for embedded: C output, compilers, monads, Timber

Tricks to use Haskell for developing embedded systems: Re: [Haskell-cafe] compilation to C, not via-C - question involving if you could output prettier C (answer: YHC/LHC or monadic generators) CUFP 2008 Program - see Controlling Hybrid Vehicles with Haskell by Tom Hawkins, Eaton Corporation TIMe - eMBEdded - Reactive - a promising O'Haskell inspired strict embedded research language
Read more