Re: What's the plan for powerpc64 in FreeBSD 16

Resending this message since I forgot to "replay all" :(

On Monday, November 17th, 2025 at 1:13 PM, Tomek CEDRO <tomek@cedro.info> wrote:

> On Mon, Nov 17, 2025 at 5:58 PM Warner Losh imp@bsdimp.com wrote:
>
> I guess the same as for ARMv7? Do not delete the code, so someone can
> still use/work with it when needed, but mark "unsupported" or "tier 3"
> or similar, then focus on new hardware platforms that lags behind
> already?
>
> What does "retire" exactly mean? I hope its just lack of official
> support but not the source code removal right? :-P
>
> --
> CeDeROM, SQ7MHZ, http://www.tomek.cedro.info

The problem is not just letting the code to sit in the source tree. Assume someone is making a change that needs modification to all architecture (maybe build system or very low-level stuff). How do they know that their code work on real hardware if there is no hardware or developers to work on a specific platform (in this case, big-endian powerpc)? Assume this patch is crucial for FreeBSD's evolution. Does powerpcbe worth enough to stall the review process due to testing/verification issue? If is it "unsupported" there is no reason to keep the code in the upstream. Someone else can fork the repository and maintain their own powerpcbe port. As long as it sits in the source tree, there is minimum effort needed (such as @releng) to check if the code works.