[MiNT] kernel 1.15.10b fragmentation

[Martin-Éric Racine <q-funk@pp.fishpool.fi>]

On Sat, 30 Dec 2000, Ralph Lowinski wrote:

> > (Frank, Draco and others) use the 10beta without troubles? 
> 
> The most trouble I have is memory fragmentation, and only
> really few crashes (but few more than with 1.15.7).

This is agravated by the fact that the kernel boots _with_ memory
protection by default. 

The rate at which a system runs out of blocks large enough to run
anything beyond GNU fileutil commands is _much_ quicker than on a
non-protected system. 

Also, protected systems constantly complain about hardware
violations that crash the kernel and require a reboot, not to
mention protocols like VA_START and OLGA not being friends with a
protected kernel. 

IMHO, kernels should _not_ be distributed with protection, at
least until proper paged memory is available, so that one does
not constantly run out of memory.

***

In closing, many thanks to Ralph, Petr, Guido and Frank for their
efforts this year. The kernel is getting closer to what is needed
in terms of functionality, the library is once again usable and
offers extended porting possibilites, AES applications that are
timezone-friendly and a great X server are making GEM usefull in
a MiNT context again... 

This is a _great_ way to close the millenium and give a "dead"
platform the tools to outlive its competitors, without requiring
any me-too fuzz on Slashdot.  Keep up the good work!

Happy New Year to everyone!

One heck of an annoying beta-tester, but a happy MiNTer,

	Martin-Éric a.k.a. Q-Funk

-- 
Martin-Éric Racine, IT Consultant * http://funkyware.atari.org/  
* May the Funk be with Q! * Author of the Atari TT030 Homepage.