Actually, compiling from source is the FreeBSD way. Last time I tried, a
couple years ago, I could not compile a vm from source due to the old
version of gcc available. The FreeBSD folks have decided against bringing
GPL 3 code into the base because it conflicts with the BSD license. The vm
required a newer version of gcc. I believe that Ian Piumarta builds the
FreeBSD binaries -- which work great -- on a Linux box. So, I was wondering
if the same technique could be used to create a vm for the Smartbook.
Another issue is resources. Does a smartbook have enough RAM and "disk"
space to compile a vm? Cross compiling on a full-sized desktop seems like a
more practical solution.

As for all those inexpensive tablets and smartbooks, yes, the price is
attractive, but a self-made client will give students many opportunities
for Project Based Learning. When I was in school we had wood and Home-Ec.
Time to replace those with computer maintenance and network management. No
better way to learn how a compter works than to build one.


On Wed, Nov 7, 2012 at 11:51 AM, tim Rowledge <tim at rowledge.org> wrote:

>
> On 07-11-2012, at 1:39 PM, Open Slate <openslateproj at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > I just saw where the FreeBSD foundation has awarded a grant to have the
> OS ported to the Genesi Efika MX Smartbook portable computer. I would like
> to get Squeak running on this platform. Also looking at their MX53 as the
> core of a self-made project. I am concerned that the hardware is
> underpowered, 800MHz Freescale i.MX515 CPU and 512MB RAM. I see where the
> new OLPC uses 1GB RAM. If we assume that the FreeBSD port will be on par
> with the available Linux OS in terms of RAM requirements and performance,
> is this enough juice to provide an acceptable level of performance in
> Squeak?
> >
> > How difficult would it be to port the existing FreeBSD vm, which is
> Intel based, to the Freescale CPU? (
> http://www.freescale.com/webapp/sps/site/prod_summary.jsp?code=i.MX515)
>
> It wouldn't.
>
> Leaving aside the work to make the dynamic translation VM, you load the
> code, build environment, OS etc on your machine. You `make`with whatever
> options and stuff is currently required (see the unix vm instructions,
> probably on squeakvm.org) and wait. Your main problem would be RAM
> related; so far as I can make out pretty much all current *nix & related
> OSs have insane memory appetites. Squeak - indeed Smalltalk in general - is
> now typically less memory hungry than a simple word processor. Hell, a
> Squeak image can be smaller than a Word document.
>
> As an aside, there are literally dozens, possibly hundreds of extremely
> cheap ARM based tablets and laptops now available. How does a $70 10"
> screen ARM CortexA9 laptop grab you? Or a $46 7" tablet? Or perhaps a
> MacBookAir clone 13" screen A9 laptop?
>
>
> tim
> --
> tim Rowledge; tim at rowledge.org; http://www.rowledge.org/tim
> "Bother" said Pooh as he said f**k in the wrong conf.
>
>
>
>


-- 
Gary Dunn
Open Slate Project
http://openslate.org/
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