Re: Debian subset suitable for m68k (was: Tuple and changes for m68k with -malign-int)
Hello Eero,
> On May 21, 2025, at 4:16 PM, Eero Tamminen <oak@helsinkinet.fi> wrote:
>
> So to start, here are the things that are, and are not, relevant for me _on m68k_. I.e. _personal_ opinions. First some general principles, and then few examples.
>
>
> Relevant
> --------
>
> Base system, compilers, interpreters, misc tools, some graphics, and things shared between niche/retro communities (like m68k) in general.
>
> In my case, for example:
> - Kernel
> - Busybox
> - Gcc
> - G++
> - Lua
> - Python
> - La/TeX
> - SDL1
> - ScummVM
> - Wired networking
> - w3m, links, lynx etc
> - Small niche windowing systems
> - Slimmed-down Debian essentials
>
>
> Not relevant
> ------------
>
> Modern corporate backed software, and anything needing encryption or GPUs supporting GLES2+, I get enough of those on x86 Linux. They are too slow / large for m68k platform, and frankly boring, all something I try to avoid in my hobbies. :-)
>
> For example:
> - Java & C#
> - LibreOffice
> - Chrome/ium, Firefox, Webkit
> - Modern desktop environments (KDE, Gnome...)
> - libSDL v2 & v3, and things depending on them
> - Wireless & VPN support
> - Virtualization
>
>
> Potentially relevant
> --------------------
>
> Some of the new tech, especially when it relates to smaller setups and base system, and more lightweight GUI apps, might also be of interest at some point:
> - Wayland / Weston
> - Golang
> - Rust, Zig
> - Abiword, Gnumeric, Evince (non-Gnome versions)
> - LyX (LaTeX GUI)
>
>
> Any thoughts on the above principles?
>
The problem is that you assume that we can easily build and maintain a subset of Debian packages without investing a lot of time and effort.
However, I do not intend to maintain a custom version of Debian. I want to build the vanilla version of Debian unstable because I do neither have the time nor the resources to roll my own version of Debian.
And using vanilla Debian unstable means having to build all of these packages that you are trying to avoid because you think they’re bloated or useless.
And, as for Rust, an increasing number of Python packages such as python-cryptography embed Rust code, so the decision whether we should support Rust or not has already been made.
If you think it’s worthwhile to maintain a custom Linux distribution for m68k, you are free to do that. However, it’s not the work I am interested personally.
Adrian
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