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Fork the Linux Kernel?
Joe Barr writes "Fork the kernel? Are you crazy? A blog entry on InfoWorld.com urged the Linux community to fork the kernel into desktop and server versions because, according to the author, all Linus Torvalds cares about is big iron. Sorry, but that's both wrong and stupid."
# Forking isn't necessary.
options BIGIRON
#options DESKTOP
Have you got any examples where there is significant overhead that can't be removed with a make config but could be removed with a specific, less scalable algorithm that isn't available in the kernel source?
I'm pretty sure your comment is mostly BS. The vanilla kernel source includes a lot of configuration options for embedded systems. Low on RAM? Turn off CONFIG_BASE_FULL to use several smaller, slower data structures. Don't have swap space? Turn off things like CONFIG_SHMEM. Using uClibc? For now, you might as well throw out CONFIG_FUTEX as well.
Which algorithms are bottlenecking your desktop? Is it the I/O scheduler? You can swap between one of four choices, at runtime.
Is it the CPU scheduler? If so, you're a liar. Nobody had produced repeatable benchmarks that show a significant shortcoming in CFS for desktop and gaming use.
Is the memory allocator really bad for your workload? Try using the new SLUB allocator, instead of the older SLAB allocator.
Is the system not as responsive as you want? Turn on forced preemption and set the tick speed to 1000Hz.
meaningful according to whom? and desktop users couldn't care less about 'hard coded nice levels' if it means their 3d games and/or X apps work better: yes, I know this is anathema to the linux developers where only super perfect code supposedly should go in, however if this supposedly super perfect code doesn't meet desktop users' needs as well as hacks, well, I'd all be for giving desktop users as many hacks as they want/need (as long as this could be changed via either a pluggable architecture or a difference in make config).
As much as Linus has done a great job into making linux a great server side OS, if he's not willing to make compromises to make the desktop faster (because either it's too 'hacky' or it will cause issues for big iron, which is what pays the devs' bills) maybe it IS time to fork under the stewardship of somebody with the desktop users' needs more at heart. If companies like, say, NVIDIA or Adobe paid a kernel developer to make linux better on the desktop this is what would probably happen IMHO.
I don't think a fork would be the end of the world, fork it and let the best survive: if a year from now we have a 'server linux' and a 'desktop linux' kernels, so be it, if instead the 'desktop linux' project flounders due to minimal speed improvements and so on, well, so be it as well. The vast majority of the patches/changes would apply to both the same way, so I don't see this causing issues and slowing development, if at all maybe people could spend less time flaming on LKML and more time writing code.
-- the cake is a lie