A scorching potato: Linus Torvalds is sick and uninterested in attempting to “repair” Linux to work on Intel’s defective processors. In his view, Linux is not damaged, so why ought to he (and different FOSS builders) repair something? Intel is the one with the issues. He vented his ire in a thread lately.
Linux Creator Linus Torvalds lately expressed frustration with change proposals to the Linux kernel which are solely “required” attributable to defective {hardware}. Phoronix notes that Torvalds ranted on the Linux kernel mailing checklist during the last week, saying that buggy {hardware} shouldn’t be Linux’s drawback, suggesting kernel builders simply say “no” and see what the “{hardware} individuals” say.
“I believe this time we push again on the {hardware} individuals and inform them it is *THEIR* rattling drawback, and if they cannot even be bothered to say yay-or-nay, we simply sit tight,” Torvalds stated. “As a result of dammit, let’s put the onus on the place the blame lies, and never simply take any random shit from dangerous {hardware} and say ‘oh, however it *may* be an issue’ [sic].”
He is additionally sad about kernel commits that deal with theoretical vulnerabilities, particularly these which are troublesome to implement and have by no means been seen within the wild.
“Actually, I am fairly rattling fed up with buggy {hardware} and utterly theoretical assaults which have by no means really proven themselves for use in follow,” he stated.
Linus Torvalds Rising Annoyed By Buggy {Hardware} & Theoretical CPU Assaultshttps://t.co/2rvIc14F4D
– Phoronix (@phoronix) October 21, 2024
A part of the issue is that addressing {hardware} faults on the OS stage complicates issues for builders and creates potential compatibility issues with different fault-free {hardware}. An instance can be proposed kernel modifications that won’t work with Linear Tackle Masking (LAM) on Arrow Lake and Lunar Lake processors, which is what obtained Torvalds fired up within the first place. This characteristic permits person house to retailer metadata in some bits of pointers.
In response to Intel Engineer Kirill Shitemov, Intel is changing LAM with LASS (Linear Tackle Area Separation), which is safer because it prevents hackers from accessing digital deal with areas throughout person/kernel mode. Shitemov indicated that there was speculated to be a patch that disabled LAM till LASS was prepared for implementation, however the repair “by no means obtained utilized for some motive.”
Since earlier this yr, Intel’s thirteenth and 14th-gen points have prompted complications on many ranges with shoppers, builders, and inside Intel. The corporate has addressed the issues with really useful BIOS settings and microcode to various levels of success. Couple that with the long-running concern of Spectre/Meltdown vulnerabilities, which preserve making headlines even six years after their discovery.
The issue, as Torvalds sees it, is that Intel can afford to pay its engineers to handle its {hardware} points. In the meantime, FOSS builders are unpaid volunteers who’re underneath growing strain to get Linux engaged on dangerous {hardware} whereas protecting it bug-free on good {hardware}. So, his frustration is comprehensible. After all, Torvalds has by no means shied away from telling {hardware} OEMs the place they’ll go.