mips64el: archive qualification page

Contents

  1. mips64el: archive qualification page
    1. Questions for new architectures
      1. Are machines available to buy for the general public?
      2. Is full source available?
      3. Is this architecture related to other architectures already in the archive, or that also should be considered, either now or in the future? Can the related architectures be supported in a single architecture (eg, with a biarch arrangement)?
      4. Are there 3 or more developers (or NMs) actively maintaining the port? Who are they?
      5. What sort of architecture is this? Desktop/workstation? Mainframe/supercomputer? Embedded? Something else?
      6. Does it have any users? If a desktop system, are there Debian admins who run Debian systems on the arch? If an embedded system are there real systems shipping that a Debian port will be useful for? If a mainframe system are there real systems with many users that a Debian port will be useful for? Who are they?
      7. Is there kernel and toolchain support? At what level? Are the latest versions supported, or are legacy releases required for compatibility with some hardware?
      8. Has the ABI stabilised, or are there major ABI changes coming up? Is the ABI stable enough to ensure users will be able just "apt-get dist-upgrade" from one version to the next?
      9. How do you install a system? (URL to a HOWTO)
      10. Has a buildd been setup? How much of the archive has been built (count by source package, builds of old versions are fine for this case)?
      11. What hardware is potentially available as a fast buildd?
      12. Is there an example box developers can login to to see if it works?
      13. It's also worth considering whether the port has any special requirements. If the port is mainly for embedded systems, it may be appropriate to have different installation or release arrangements compared to normal desktop/workstation architectures.

Questions for new architectures

Are machines available to buy for the general public?

Yes. You can buy the machines at the market.

There are some machines available on market, notably: Loongson 3A/3B (from Loongson, Lemote, and Inspur), Cavium Octeon, Broadcom XLP, and maybe other manufacturers.

Is full source available?

Yes. The full stack is open source and upstream.

Yes; it's related to the mips/mipsel ports, but with a different ABI (N64), and it's running in little endian mode. Multi-Arch and Multilib with mipsel and mipsn32el work, as tri-arch support is already done for relevant parts of the system (kernel, glibc, and gcc).

Are there 3 or more developers (or NMs) actively maintaining the port? Who are they?

The current development team has four Debian Developers and one DM in the NM process.

https://wiki.debian.org/mips64el#Development_Team

What sort of architecture is this? Desktop/workstation? Mainframe/supercomputer? Embedded? Something else?

Servers, routers, desktops, laptops, and maybe tablets etc.

Does it have any users? If a desktop system, are there Debian admins who run Debian systems on the arch? If an embedded system are there real systems shipping that a Debian port will be useful for? If a mainframe system are there real systems with many users that a Debian port will be useful for? Who are they?

Yes, there are quite some users. Many of the current MIPS hardware is 64-bit capable, so such a port is highly desirable.

Is there kernel and toolchain support? At what level? Are the latest versions supported, or are legacy releases required for compatibility with some hardware?

Yes. The architecture support starts up with these versions, which are recent:

The above version of Debian packages are already in official archive.

Has the ABI stabilised, or are there major ABI changes coming up? Is the ABI stable enough to ensure users will be able just "apt-get dist-upgrade" from one version to the next?

Yes. The ABI is stable, and supported with the GNU tool chain (binutils, glibc, gcc).

The ABI document is available at http://techpubs.sgi.com/library/manuals/2000/007-2816-004/pdf/007-2816-004.pdf

How do you install a system? (URL to a HOWTO)

Currently, run debootstrap on a Debian mipsel system, then configure bootloader and kernel. d-i support is being worked on.

Has a buildd been setup? How much of the archive has been built (count by source package, builds of old versions are fine for this case)?

Yes. Around 9900 architecture-dependent source packages were built, and are available for use from an apt repository.

Details: https://wiki.debian.org/mips64el#Archive

What hardware is potentially available as a fast buildd?

Loongson 3A/3B, Broadcom XLP and Cavium Octeon III machines. Currently, Imagination Technologies has provided a large number of MIPS machines and will provide faster ones in the near future.

Is there an example box developers can login to to see if it works?

Yes. See: https://wiki.debian.org/mips64el#Development_machines

It's also worth considering whether the port has any special requirements. If the port is mainly for embedded systems, it may be appropriate to have different installation or release arrangements compared to normal desktop/workstation architectures.

No.