Nios II Linux v1.4 released

--- Quote Start ---

Did you read this ...?

AFAIK, the only other Nios Linux distributions that currently is supported can be bought from WindRiver.

-Michael

--- Quote End ---

No, thank you, like I said, I am just getting started with Nios development, and so I hadn't seen that Wiki yet. I have a couple of follow-up questions.

1. I have seen material here and on the Wiki about both Linux and uClinux. What are the pros/cons of uClinux vs. regular Linux on Nios II? Is the regular Linux the only one that leverages the MMU capability?

2. What are the easiest ways that one can interact interactively with a Linux/uClinux OS running on a Nios 2 design in a Stratix III on a simple dev board such as the DE3? E.g., can one of the USB ports be used together with a simple text-terminal app on the PC to provide an old-fashioned terminal interface (VT100-like)? Or, for more direct interaction, is there any free IP & drivers for handling USB keyboard/mouse input, and for driving at least CGA text output (80x25 chars) to a monitor through an external VGA jack wired up to some of the general-purpose IO pin headers?

3. To provide network capabilities to the dev board, is there any free IP (& device drivers) available to implement, say, controller ICs for RJ-45 Ethernet ports, if those were wired into some GPIO pins?