Re: For decades now
> It's not practical to have to change a jumper to update every box
You don't need to update the bootstrap code very often, if at all, for the life of the machine.
As for the bootup code having to set up DRAM, peripherals, clocks and what have you this isn't unique to Intel processors, you've got to do this for every processor. Its just part of the job. (been doing it for 40+ years.....).
I fear that layers of complexity are being substtuted for simply getting basic stuff to work properly. You only have to look at the amount of code bloat and the Byzantine attempts to secure computers (that invariably stop them from doing a lot of useful work) to realize that something is very wrong. I can't deal with a lot of modern software professionals (and their IT counterparts) because they're like talking to practiioners of witchcraft; they know a great deal about their subject but somehow haven't much of a clue about why they're doing what they're doing. This makes them easy prey to marketers (but the fallout for the rest of us is computer systems that are becoming increasingly unusuable).
Biting the hand that feeds IT
