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Re: PowerMac G5 fans run out of control with kernel4.17.0-3-powerpc64 but not with 4.16.0-1-powerpc64



On 8/26/18 10:53 AM, Dennis Clarke wrote:
> The real problem is that we are running a dead platform. At the very
> least it is being walked up to the hangmans platform. The world seems
> to want little endian everywhere and ppc64el on at least POWER8 hardware
> is a firm requirement for Debian.  While it is snazzy to have an old
> Apple PowerMac G5 running linux we are spitting into the wind here.  I
> figure similar things will happen with RISC-V if that ever gets going.
> Little endian is the prevailing wind direction there also.  There isn't
> any sort of RISC-V hardware yet. Not anything remotely close to a real
> "standard" or even "popular".  Whatever that means.

Meh, m68k is even older and still very much maintained. Just because a
single thing doesn't work out of the box, doesn't mean it's completely
broken or dead.

> Anyways, I had to boot this old G5 with the Debian 8.10 install DVD and
> then manually fiddle with the stuff old yaboot wants. It would be "cool"
> and fun to get Debian unstable running on it.  Why not?  It has two dual
> core PPC970MP processors and 8GB of memory in it.  Seems a shame to toss
> it onto the scrap heap.  However plenty of money is pouring into the new
> and snazzy IBM POWER9 world with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.4 as a valid
> and supported commercial grade product. That is the direction that the
> big "money" wants and the big "money" always wins. Period. Opensource
> and community be damned.  I have been around ya know?

Too much unrelated ranting.

> So I am a big big fan of risc platforms and would love to see a valid
> linux distro running on risc platforms such as ppc64 and RISC-V and yes
> the big massive sparc64 and even little arm. However there is little
> promise for big endian ppc64 anymore. There isn't even the promise that
> compilers and debuggers will work for much longer.

Uhm, ppc64 is perfectly maintained upstream. In fact, it's the best
ports architecture we have because IBM takes care of the big-endian
PPC64 code as well.

> I follow along on the changelogs at kernel.org and no one cares if ye
> old PowerMac G5's are running sweetly.

If people aren't reporting bugs, developers can't fix them.

> A more reasonable direction is a POWER9 platform such as the Talos II
> from the folks at Raptor Computing Systems or an IBM POWER9 ripping fast
> server. Anything other than ye old silver Apple PowerMac G5 would be a
> better choice.  However, having said all that, you can boot and run a
> linux kernel and a userland on a toaster or twenty year old HP Kayak PC
> if you like.  I know that I have.

Again, too much ranting. If you think all is lost and putting efforts
in Debian Ports is pointless, you're in the wrong forum.

Adrian

-- 
 .''`.  John Paul Adrian Glaubitz
: :' :  Debian Developer - glaubitz@debian.org
`. `'   Freie Universitaet Berlin - glaubitz@physik.fu-berlin.de
  `-    GPG: 62FF 8A75 84E0 2956 9546  0006 7426 3B37 F5B5 F913


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