Re: endiannes of the kernel

Patrick Lerda (LERDA@microprocess.com)
Thu, 29 Jul 1999 09:59:33 +0200

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Linux has been written on a little endian architecture: intel. In
little-endian mode
linux is well tested, the kernel works perfectly. If you chose
big-endian mode, linux
is still operational, but some parts of the kernel will be broken.
Drivers, filesystems etc...
must be written in a big-endian compatible way, all 16bits, 32bits
access to
hardware or to external data structures must be converted using some
macros
defined in the linux kernel. A lot of drivers were written specifically
for intel and are not big-endian
compatible...
So linux is more reliable in little endian.

LERDA Patrick

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Re: endiannes of the kernel

Linux has been written on a little = endian architecture: intel. In little-endian mode
linux is well tested, the kernel = works perfectly. If you chose big-endian mode, linux
is still operational, but some parts = of the kernel will be broken. Drivers, filesystems etc...
must be written in a big-endian = compatible way, all 16bits, 32bits access to
hardware or to external data = structures must be converted using some macros
defined in the linux kernel. A lot of = drivers were written specifically for intel and are not = big-endian
compatible...
So linux is more reliable in little = endian.

LERDA Patrick

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