points by osmsucks 1 day ago | 0 comments
> NetBSD's main claim to fame is that it runs on practically everything
That means available number of architectures. NetBSD still support some pretty esoteric stuff, but though I haven't actually counted I would expect Linux to run on a comparable number of architectures.
Now, the kernel will probably boot successfully on a given machine, but whether hardware (i.e. driver) support will be decent enough for everyday use is a completely different matter! For example, NetBSD "works" on this laptop of mine... except for Ethernet card, Wi-Fi card, touchpad, ACPI suspension, external monitors via the docking station, ... :)
I'm trying (for fun) to bridge some of these gaps, but you can see how this isn't appealing to the average user.
[–] JdeBP 1 day ago
[–] osmsucks 6 hours ago
My scant research on the touchpad situation tells me that this laptop (TUXEDO InfinityBook 14 Pro) is likely a repackaged UNIWILL IDL (https://www.uniwill.com.tw/?page_id=16918). On Linux, the touchpad is probably handled by the i2c_hid module and I think OpenBSD has sys/dev/i2c/imt.c that might handle it (NetBSD has sys/dev/i2c/ims.c, but no sys/dev/i2c/imt.c).
* https://gnats.netbsd.org/60897
I think that it is specifically the interaction between ihidev and ACPI. The hardware devices themselves are PS/2, with a vendor-specific extension to PS/2 activated by a special handshake, plus I2C. (On machines from 2024 that come with 9 USB root hubs; such is the inertia of laptop design.)