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Linux Gains Support for NUMA
soosterh writes "CNet has an article about a NUMA patch from IBM. It says that the improvement adds some support in Linux for nonuniform memory access, or NUMA, a design for higher-end servers with many processors. Linus Torvalds, the original creator of the operating system and still its top authority, accepted the update this month into version 2.5, the current test version of the software."
OpenBSD doesn't have a democracy. It has a benevolent (heh) dictatorship. This is a Good Thing to a certain extent, because it keeps a project on-track. It gives it some level of direction, as opposed to letting things bloat... and bloat... and bloat... You can't compare open source to countries, because it's a lot easier to fork source and make your own branch than it is to revolt and declare independence. That said, sometimes the dictator can be a stubborn little bitch, and there's not much anyone can do. But that's why Linux users have the Alan Cox branches, and OpenBSD users have MicroBSD and other "unofficial" patched versions. It's no big deal.
I got a sig so you would remember me.
uhh, Linus wouldn't accept anything into the kernel that wasn't GPL'd.
Ergo, you are an ass.
OpenBSD doesn't have a democracy. It has a benevolent (heh) dictatorship. This is a Good Thing to a certain extent, because it keeps a project on-track. It gives it some level of direction, as opposed to letting things bloat... and bloat... and bloat... You can't compare open source to countries, because it's a lot easier to fork source and make your own branch than it is to revolt and declare independence. That said, sometimes the dictator can be a stubborn little bitch, and there's not much anyone can do. But that's why Linux users have the Alan Cox branches, and OpenBSD users have MicroBSD and other "unofficial" patched versions. It's no big deal.
We already have lots of "democratic" systems. They come from vendors like Microsoft and the voters are paying customers. The result is a mess of screwed up priorities and feature bloat.
According the article, and my own knowledge of the NUMA debate on linux-kernel, Linus objected to the original implementation from IBM because it was too intrusive and caused performance degradation on non-NUMA systems. I, for one, was pleased to see this prevented. I will explain why.
Had this been a commercial operating system the NUMA work would have been incorporated right over the heads of whatever moral equivalent of Linus existed among the engineers within the organization. This would happen because the marketdroids would insist the NUMA feature check box be filled. The bosses would buy the marketdroid line and overrule the engineers. This is how systems like Windows get to be how they are. This is your "democratic" system at work.
Martin Bligh approached this from the perspective that his work was indemnified from critical review due to it's importance. This is typical when an engineer thinks he has the marketdroids on his side. He made unnecessary technical compromises in his implementation and expected it to be overlooked. When you believe you have the blessing of the powers-that-be you will try to get away with murder.
Unfortunately for our Martin, the Linux kernel isn't controlled by sales people. It's controlled by a man who has earned his credibility over a decade of public scrutiny. He has the power to make objective decisions based on technical merit. Linus forced the issue and the engineer was forced to reconsider his approach. The proof that Linus was entirely correct is that when the engineer was forced to reconsider his approach, he not only achieved the desired result, but now appears quite proud that his new implementation compromises nothing.
Linus makes lots of decisions about the work of others. Often, this results in someone's hard work being excluded. This happens so frequently that if the community at large believed he a motive other than technical excellence he would have run out of credibility with all of us long ago. He hasn't, and there is no sign he's about to.
We see these calls for "democracy" of some sort whenever a controversy appears. Perhaps we wonder if they have any merit? I don't, because I understand the motivation and I don't like it. Raw talent is a rare thing. When we witness extraordinary talent at work without a full understanding of the reasons we are often mystified and unsettled. When our own desires and motivations are in conflict with those who possess such talent, we are frustrated. This leads us to couch our desire to confound this mysterious force by suggesting "obviously" superior methods, such as "democracy".
I do not fear the talent of others. I lack the means to make reasoned decisions on these matters and, probably, so do you. The difference is that I accept this and rely on my faith in certain people to do the correct thing. Linus is right far more often that he is wrong. He has my faith. I, too, was annoyed to see the select NUMA audience denied the features they wanted in the mainstream kernel. Clearly this sort of thing impedes World Domination (tm). In the end, however, I took it on faith that Linus had the clues necessary to make the call.
Maw! Fire up the karma burner!