berggren@eecs.cs.pdx.edu (Eric Berggren) (03/24/91)
You might have seen this in a couple of other areas, but I'll post a copy here for the general... I am in the midst of a small war debating whether or not one should use system BIOS where it is available (on IBM style machines). One side is arguing compatibility and the other side is pushing performance. At one time, I was for BIOS on everything, but after experience and readings of various articles, I currently stand on the side of direct hardware interfacing. Many operating systems do not use BIOS, because one is not available, and interfacing is done through device drivers (whether BIOS is there or not). The article series in DDJ regarding the 386BSD port appears to be going the direct hardware route. Is this indeed what most other operating systems for the IBM PC world (and others that may apply) are doing? Thanks for the input. -e.b. ============================================================================== Eric Berggren | "Life is a Turing Test; Computer Science/Eng. | We're all automatons!" berggren@eecs.cs.pdx.edu | - (click, whir, buzz, chirp)