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.<br>
<br>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.<br>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Nov 7, 2012 at 11:51 AM, tim Rowledge <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:tim@rowledge.org" target="_blank">tim@rowledge.org</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div class="im"><br>
On 07-11-2012, at 1:39 PM, Open Slate <<a href="mailto:openslateproj@gmail.com">openslateproj@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br>
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> 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?<br>
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> How difficult would it be to port the existing FreeBSD vm, which is Intel based, to the Freescale CPU? (<a href="http://www.freescale.com/webapp/sps/site/prod_summary.jsp?code=i.MX515" target="_blank">http://www.freescale.com/webapp/sps/site/prod_summary.jsp?code=i.MX515</a>)<br>
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</div>It wouldn't.<br>
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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 <a href="http://squeakvm.org" target="_blank">squeakvm.org</a>) 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.<br>
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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?<br>
<div class="im"><br>
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tim<br>
--<br>
tim Rowledge; <a href="mailto:tim@rowledge.org">tim@rowledge.org</a>; <a href="http://www.rowledge.org/tim" target="_blank">http://www.rowledge.org/tim</a><br>
</div>"Bother" said Pooh as he said f**k in the wrong conf.<br>
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</blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Gary Dunn<br>Open Slate Project<br><a href="http://openslate.org/" target="_blank">http://openslate.org/</a><br>
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