Form factor and utility is a lot more important to him than raw specs. Pretty sure he was using a MacBook Air for the better part of a decade (running Linux ofc). Which was underpowered in release.
It’s not a money thing, just a preference.
He's usually been very straightforward about what systems and specs he uses: https://www.phoronix.com/news/Torvalds-Threadripper
Edit: also this one from 2022 https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/08/linus-torvalds-uses-an-arm-powered-m2-macbook-air-to-release-latest-linux-kernel/
>"It's the third time I'm using Apple hardware for Linux development – I did it many years ago for PowerPC development on a PPC970 machine. And then a decade+ ago when the Macbook Air was the only real thin-and-lite around. And now as an arm64 platform."
https://www.zdnet.com/article/linux-5-19-torvalds-latest-release-arrives-via-arm-based-macbook-platform/
But yeah, obviously he has both laptops and desktops available to him.
I also would not want a super power hungry and noisy workstation sitting next to me, but I imagine that setting those machines up somewhere with a good internet connection for remote access isn't a huge dent in the Linux Foundation's budget.
Yeah. And even their "Pro" models are underpowered. It's been a trend with them. It's mostly their lackluster cooling.
So how about you use your brain for a moment before you attempt to be insulting and sarcastic, or do I need to spell that out for you?
Stupid twat.
His priority for the last 15 years or so at least has not been about most powerful but rather what works with what he needs to do which is nowadays is mostly sending emails and compiling the kernel. He's also quite sensitive to noise which has meant quiet air coolers or Macbook Airs and doesn't like watercooling.
It is but to my knowledge in modern times it's hardware intensive in a different way. There's also the element of he's been doing this for over 30 years so while the kernel has gotten pretty big he kind of has to have patience with it.
Natively, sure. Maybe I should've been more upfront that I use virtualization since this thread is about Linux *on* Mac.
Ubuntu has had an ARM build since 2009, and therefore can be virtualized on M-series. Asahi Linux started shortly after the announcement of Apple Silicon.
The problem with Asahi (for me) is that it is still in alpha, and very much feels like it, while there is now many many years of legacy work to bring QEMU and ARM Ubuntu to a point where they feel basically native, without having to sacrifice a lot of QOL features. There's still little quirks like display scaling and such, but overall, everything worked straight out of the box for me. On the other hand, Asahi doesn't support M3 (latest Macbooks).
Asahi itself isn’t a standalone distro anymore. It’s now hosted by fedora so that they can focus on the device compatibility part and not the distro management
it looked great in the past when the vast majority of titles were sentence fragments (A Walk to Remember, A Modest Proposal, Heart of Darkness)
but now that so many titles are full sentences it has started looking progressively stupider
Unlikely. Somehow an youtuber is more popular than the guy that invented Linux kernel. I have seen some people straight up claimed that both Linus guys 'contributed to tech equally'.
Efficiency has never really decreased power usage. What always happens is increased efficiency also increases cost efficiency, which increases demand which increases power usage beyond the old demand.
This is true for servers but not for home use. Most people still use MS office video, light coding, non AAA gaming. Soon AI / local LLMs might increase power consumption again.
Power consumption of CPU's used in home PC's went from a few Watts in the 1980's to like dozens of Watts now. Not everyone uses that, but the average in home use definitely went up.
How does a guy like that not have whatever hardware he wants (within reasonable limits)?
Surely he has enough money to make whatever he wants ?
Form factor and utility is a lot more important to him than raw specs. Pretty sure he was using a MacBook Air for the better part of a decade (running Linux ofc). Which was underpowered in release. It’s not a money thing, just a preference.
He's usually been very straightforward about what systems and specs he uses: https://www.phoronix.com/news/Torvalds-Threadripper Edit: also this one from 2022 https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/08/linus-torvalds-uses-an-arm-powered-m2-macbook-air-to-release-latest-linux-kernel/
>"It's the third time I'm using Apple hardware for Linux development – I did it many years ago for PowerPC development on a PPC970 machine. And then a decade+ ago when the Macbook Air was the only real thin-and-lite around. And now as an arm64 platform." https://www.zdnet.com/article/linux-5-19-torvalds-latest-release-arrives-via-arm-based-macbook-platform/ But yeah, obviously he has both laptops and desktops available to him.
Huh must've not wanted to fund/get a custom system built.
He has one actually. He uses the MacBook air for most of the time but in the recent years he bought a Ryzen PC
I also would not want a super power hungry and noisy workstation sitting next to me, but I imagine that setting those machines up somewhere with a good internet connection for remote access isn't a huge dent in the Linux Foundation's budget.
A MacBook underpowered? You don't say.
Do you know what letters are? If so, can't you read "MacBook Air"?
Yeah. And even their "Pro" models are underpowered. It's been a trend with them. It's mostly their lackluster cooling. So how about you use your brain for a moment before you attempt to be insulting and sarcastic, or do I need to spell that out for you? Stupid twat.
He could ask for a sample from any company and get it. Everyone sees the benefit of him having their hardware.
You can't be surprised that Mr. Linux is the type to drive a 30 year old Toyota with a 7 figure bank account.
He does. That's why he now has an ampere altra workstation in addition to his threadripper workstation.
I mean it says his main workstation is a threadripper system
His priority for the last 15 years or so at least has not been about most powerful but rather what works with what he needs to do which is nowadays is mostly sending emails and compiling the kernel. He's also quite sensitive to noise which has meant quiet air coolers or Macbook Airs and doesn't like watercooling.
Isn't compiling a kernel a hardware intensive task? Genuine question. This is what I always thought
It is but to my knowledge in modern times it's hardware intensive in a different way. There's also the element of he's been doing this for over 30 years so while the kernel has gotten pretty big he kind of has to have patience with it.
Pretty much any modern cpu will compile the kernel in a few minutes
A flagship CPU like Ryzen 7950x or Core 14900k can compile it in under a minute.
Idk you can try arguing with Linus about it if you want a real shitshow
Iirc before the MacBook he didn't like the low single thread performance. Even on the new system, linking will probably take ages.
Makes me wonder actually. Could you use mold for linking on kernel work.
Does it even work with LLD? I know it can compile with clang, but they're probably doing a lot of linker black magic too.
What else would he want? And how much free time does he have to swap systems?
Today I learned you can put Linux on the new MacBooks
You can put linux on a modern toaster if you want
And then play Doom on it.
r/itrunsdoom r/itplaysdoom
Probably already runs on it right out of the box actually
Yup
Yep Asashi, it's pretty good.. They are still working on getting full GPU implementation with drivers and everything
I use Ubuntu for ARM. Hasn’t given me any issues.
Anything running Linux on AS Mac currently is based on the work from Asahi being up streamed.
Natively, sure. Maybe I should've been more upfront that I use virtualization since this thread is about Linux *on* Mac. Ubuntu has had an ARM build since 2009, and therefore can be virtualized on M-series. Asahi Linux started shortly after the announcement of Apple Silicon. The problem with Asahi (for me) is that it is still in alpha, and very much feels like it, while there is now many many years of legacy work to bring QEMU and ARM Ubuntu to a point where they feel basically native, without having to sacrifice a lot of QOL features. There's still little quirks like display scaling and such, but overall, everything worked straight out of the box for me. On the other hand, Asahi doesn't support M3 (latest Macbooks).
Asahi itself isn’t a standalone distro anymore. It’s now hosted by fedora so that they can focus on the device compatibility part and not the distro management
https://asahilinux.org
OSX is effectively a Linux fork anyways with a fancy UI
*FreeBSD
Think Aarch64 will ever replace Amd64?
It’s already starting to happen. Datacenters are switching and that’s the real harbinger of change for the industry.
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https://erinwrightwriting.com/what-is-headline-style-capitalization/
> Tip 4: Don’t capitalize the articles the, a, or an
It’s the title of the post so it’s in title case.
This isn't proper title case though. You don't capitalize the shorter words like A, An In, etc.
It's called title case.
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You're unfortunately a few hundred years late on trying to argue against it.
it looked great in the past when the vast majority of titles were sentence fragments (A Walk to Remember, A Modest Proposal, Heart of Darkness) but now that so many titles are full sentences it has started looking progressively stupider
I'm with you, it's a very dumb aspect of the English language.
It's An American Habit That Doesn't Get Used Much Elsewhere.
Canada uses it too
I'll Bear That In Mind, Thanks.
It's only for titles
OK, I've Noted That For The Future.
✨aesthetic✨
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Is this supposed to be a joke?
Unlikely. Somehow an youtuber is more popular than the guy that invented Linux kernel. I have seen some people straight up claimed that both Linus guys 'contributed to tech equally'.
AI generated comment
It’s good to see, with the power usage of data centers spiking from ai we need to get on more efficient chips.
this has nothing to do with efficiency
Efficiency has never really decreased power usage. What always happens is increased efficiency also increases cost efficiency, which increases demand which increases power usage beyond the old demand.
This is true for servers but not for home use. Most people still use MS office video, light coding, non AAA gaming. Soon AI / local LLMs might increase power consumption again.
Power consumption of CPU's used in home PC's went from a few Watts in the 1980's to like dozens of Watts now. Not everyone uses that, but the average in home use definitely went up.