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OS isnt the hard part. The driver ecosystem is the moat. Linux finally overcame it decades later
by EGreg 1y ago
OS isnt the hard part.
The driver ecosystem is the moat. Linux finally overcame it decades later
- saulpw 1y agoYeah, the Linux kernel has ~12m lines of code. <1m are the core, the rest are drivers.
- CodeArtisan 1y ago29 Millions according to https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-6.16-AMDGPU-Driver-Size https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-6.16-AMDGPU-Driver-Size 5 Millions alone for the AMD graphic driver.
- treyd 1y agoMuch of that 5M are hardware register definitions expanded into C headers. I am not sure how you'd consolidate that but it's not like that's all bespoke C code.
- ForHackernews 1y agoWhat an inefficient disaster to carry around all those drivers to run hardware that isn't on the device you're running on.
- sour-taste 1y ago* The vast majority aren't compiled into any given kernel * Those that are are only loaded when needed It's not that bad
- wmf 1y agoIt's modular so you don't have to compile drivers you don't need.
- RJIb8RBYxzAMX9u 1y agoI sympathize, but the reality is that except for very specialized cases, (hyper) optimizing for CPU performance is unnecessary, even in the embedded space. A Cortex-M0 has roughly the same performance as a 486, and is cheap and power efficient enough to be bundled in disposable test kits, vapes, etc.
- beeflet 1y agoMost of it is in modules that don't have to be compiled at all (and usually aren't)
- bri3d 1y agoAndroid built a new, giant moat for Linux (or "Linux" depending on your opinions about Android) in the embedded application processor space - now the "standard" board support package target for new embedded AP hardware is almost always some random point-in-time snapshot of Android. Running "mainline" Linux is hard (because the GPU and media peripheral drivers are usually half-userspace Android flavored stuff and rely on ION and other Androidisms) and bare-metal is even worse (where previously, you'd get register-level documentation, now, you get some Android libXYZ.so library).
- izacus 1y agoI don't remember there being any time in history where you got "register-level documentation". Those boards were always accompanied by horrific binary blobs glued to a kernel form a stone age. Or Windows.