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XiP Filesystem Primps For Linux 2.6.28

Posted by timothy on from the primpin'-ain't-easy-but-it's-necessary dept.

nerdyH writes "The Linux-Embedded discussion list has been abuzz the last two days over a flash filesystem designed to support binary code execution (sometimes called XIP, or "execute-in-place"). When combined with forthcoming "Phase Change Memory" products from Intel/ST JV Numonyx, the "Advanced XiP Filesystem" (AXFS) could radically change Linux systems of all kinds, replacing Flash, hard drives, and even DRAM with a single chunk of low-cost, non-volatile memory that can both store files and serve as a platform for program execution."

1 of 33 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Huh? by 42forty-two42 · · Score: 5, Informative

    This filesystem is meant for embedded devices with Flash storage that presents itself as a portion of physical memory - essentially, it helps the kernel avoid the overhead of copying from Flash to RAM when you can just run it out of Flash.
    XiP has been supported in other filesystems, this is more like a small improvement - nothing to get excited about. Moreover, you won't see it in use in any desktops - this filesystem is read-only; more like an archive format understood by the kernel.
    More useful discussion can be found at kerneltrap.