Linux Kills Ancient x86 Fallbacks
unknownuniverse.uk
As Linux 7.2 makes the Time Stamp Counter mandatory, we look at why dropping legacy x86 fallback timing code is long overdue.

Linux 7.2 has landed, dragging x86 timing clean out of the nineties by making the Time Stamp Counter mandatory.

I wrote up a quick article on why ditching those ancient legacy fallbacks is good housekeeping, plus a few other bits like cache-aware scheduling and memory tweaks worth noting.

Is anyone still using legacy hardware? If so, what do you use it for?

  • tux0r@snac.rosaelefanten.org
    5·
    2 days ago

    Just use NetBSD and never look back :)

    The notion of using Linux to revive old hardware and keep it out of the landfill may not last forever…

    Linux supports much less old hardware than its competitors.

    • mabeledo@lemmy.world
      4·
      15 hours ago

      On the other hand, Linux runs more software than its competitors, and it’s not even close.

        • mabeledo@lemmy.world
          3·
          13 hours ago

          Emulation support doesn’t imply full ABI or driver support.

          Otherwise, since Proton is supported for Linux but not BSD, Linux would still be ahead.

          • Anti_Iridium@lemmy.worldEnglish
            1·
            10 hours ago

            It’s much deeper than emulation like you would a PlayStation. Last time I checked you could run steam and proton on FreeBSD

            • mabeledo@lemmy.world
              2·
              3 hours ago

              I know how it works. My point is that, if emulated software, be under a hypervisor or an ABI compatibility layer, is considered “supported”, then we could say that Windows applications are supported in Linux, but that’s not entirely true.

              More importantly, if I want to run Linux software, I would rather run it on Linux, e.g. Docker and Kubernetes.