For its excellent backward compatibility: NetBSD 6.1 is still able to run a.out binaries built for NetBSD 1.0
For its system-independant build system. Building NetBSD needs a POSIX system with a C compiler, which does not need to be NetBSD. It first builds the tools for the host, including the compiler itself, and then the target NetBSD system, which may be for another CPU.
For its machine-independant drivers. Have a fancy platform with an odd CPU? If NetBSD has a driver for a chip, it will work a
Reading the project page, X isn't supported on the Octane. While Gentoo was a pain to install on the Octane and get running (not supported anymore, this was back in 2007-8), it did have basic X support. Newer kernels probably don't work at all on this hardware. I've got two sitting in my room now (not the ones I got working in the LUG years ago), that it looks like IRIX is the only viable choice for.
A few years prior to that (probably around 2003 or so) Gentoo was a pain to install on a Mac but it was SOOOOO cool to see the penguin on the screen once I got it going.
You see but you do not observe.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, in "The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes"
Why NetBSD? (Score:5, Informative)
Why NetBSD?
Re: (Score:2)
The one system I really wanted to run NetBSD on isn't supported (SGI Octane). Ruined the whole "Of course it runs NetBSD" joke for me.
Re: (Score:0)
The one system I really wanted to run NetBSD on isn't supported (SGI Octane).
Try OpenBSD. OpenBSD forked from NetBSD in the 1990's and it supports SGI Octane.
http://www.openbsd.org/sgi.html [openbsd.org]
Re:Why NetBSD? (Score:2)
Reading the project page, X isn't supported on the Octane. While Gentoo was a pain to install on the Octane and get running (not supported anymore, this was back in 2007-8), it did have basic X support. Newer kernels probably don't work at all on this hardware. I've got two sitting in my room now (not the ones I got working in the LUG years ago), that it looks like IRIX is the only viable choice for.
Re: (Score:1)