RTEMS snapshots

[Joel Sherrill]

I would like to announce the availability of the first
RTEMS snapshot (ss-20000616) since cutting the 4.5 
release branch.  This is also the first RTEMS snapshot
to be publicly available.  The rtems-snapshots mailing
list is publicly accessible and may be subscribed to
by sending a message to rtems-snapshots-subscribe at OARcorp.com.

Discussions about snapshots, new features, etc should
occur on the rtems-snapshots mailing list.  Discussions
about released versions, application design questions,
general questions should continue to go to rtems-users.

Please subscribe to the snapshots list and contribute.

On to the news.... :)

This snapshot has a number of new features (Caching API, 
i960sim BSP, and mbx8xx BSP). Bu probably more importantly, 
it is the first snapshot showing where RTEMS packaging is 
heading although the changes at this point are subtle.

RTEMS is being reorganized to separate BSPs from the Executive
proper.  This will allow most of RTEMS to be treated as a
support library like libc and multlib'ed like the other GNU
language libraries.  In doing this, some code will move from
score/cpu to libcpu.  Source code remaining in score/cpu
can only depend on the information provided by gcc cpp predefines
used to distinguish multilibs.  Information specifically
dependent on or derivable only from RTEMS_CPU_MODEL must be
moved to libcpu.  Some of the RTEMS ports already support
this model -- in particular, the m68k. Ralf Corsepius has
reorganized the SH port to follow this pattern.  I have initiated
reorganizing the i960 port.

When this effort is complete, it will be possible to release
prebuilt libraries for the RTEMS ports just as we do the tools
now.  End users will only be responsible for building a BSP.
It will also allow binaries for add-on libraries to be built
and distributed.

I would encourage people to look at doing BSPs for the CPU
simulators in gdb -- in particular, the mips and sh.

The snapshot files are located at:

ftp://ftp.oarcorp.com/pub/rtems/snapshots/current

Thanks.

-- 
Joel Sherrill, Ph.D.             Director of Research & Development
joel at OARcorp.com                 On-Line Applications Research
Ask me about RTEMS: a free RTOS  Huntsville AL 35805
   Support Available             (256) 722-9985