RichardC (tich.delete@this.pobox.com) on April 5, 2017 1:23 pm wrote:
> Linus Torvalds (torvalds.delete@this.linux-foundation.org) on April 5, 2017 11:20 am wrote:
>
> Yup. ARM started out being designed for a business computer - it was supposed to have a
> transactional filesystem implemented on optical disks, and a brand-new all-singing all-dancing
> Xerox Dorado-ish OS - all running in 256KB of DRAM. Floating-point was an afterthought
> at best (and Wilson was a wizard at doing software FP in 6502 assembler).
> Of course the rest of the microprocessor world didn't really have its act together on FP
> back in 1984 either (the 80387 wasn't released until 1987).
>
> Then the business changed and ARM got redirected into mobile and low-power embedded stuff,
> which kept FP as a low priority until mobile gaming became a thing.
>
>
The 8087 was available in 1982, and the specs were available from Intel before 1980.
There is not a lot of difference between the 8087 and the 387.

- Tim