Compaq Armada E700 Operating System Support for Compaq Portable Products - Page 18

Operating System Support for Compaq Portable Products 18 Table 11. Feature & Hardware Considerations under Linux Feature Description Premier OS Functions Multitasking: several programs running at the same time. Multi-user: several users on the same machine at the same time. Multi-platform: runs on many different CPUs, not just Intel. Multiprocessor: Symmetric Multi-Processing (SMP) support is available on the Intel and SPARC platforms. Multithreading: Linux has native kernel support for multiple independent threads of control within a single process memory space. Multiple virtual consoles: several independent login sessions through the console. Free OS Source code for the kernel, drivers, development tools and user programs is available and can be freely distributed54. Legacy File Support Supports several common file systems including Minix, Xenix, and all the common system V file systems as well as an advanced file system of its own, which supports large volumes (up to 4 TB) and long file names (up to 255 characters). Transparent access to MS-DOS partitions (or OS/2 FAT partitions). Special file system called UMSDOS which allows Linux to be installed on a DOS file system CD-ROM file system which reads all standard CD-ROM formats. Support for networking TCP/IP networking, including FTP, telnet, NFS, etc. Netware client and server. Many networking protocols: the base protocols available in the latest development kernels include TCP, IPv4, IPv6, AX.25, X.25, IPX, DDP (Appletalk), Netrom, and others. Stable network protocols included in the stable kernels currently include TCP, IPv4, IPX, DDP, and AX.25. The following features important to portable customers are not currently available under Linux: Feature Description Premier Mobile Support Hot-swapping of optional storage components (such as Hard Disk Drives, Floppy Disk Drives, CD-ROM, DVD, LS120 or ZIP drives). Hot-docking into Armada Station docking stations. Compaq Unique Features Enhanced audio features. Use of Compaq programmable keys. Movie Playback Multi-media support of MPEG-2 Hollywood Encrypted video content designed for Digital VideoDisks (DVD-ROM) drives. USB USB support is experimental only. Linux Advantages/Disadvantages The following matrix represents the results of a small, qualitative study conducted in December 1998 by Compaq Computer Corporation's Enterprise Computing Group. The study group consisted of participants from corporations, ISPs, research institutes and academic institutions. 54 Additional distributor value-added drivers or enhancements are generally provided at additional cost. NA120D/0199