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Why does Linux run so well on ARM
(ls.buckodr.ink)
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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Small correction: the flag setting modes aren't undocumented. They're standardized extensions. ARMv8.4 added
FEAT_FlagM
, and ARMv8.5 addedFEAT_FlagM2
.https://developer.arm.com/downloads/-/exploration-tools/feature-names-for-a-profile
IIRC, the only nonstandard ARM extension used by Rosetta 2 in Apple's processors is TSO, and that's also implemented by other manufacturers. It's also not a hard requirement to run
amd64
under ARM. You can emulate it very slowly or restrict the application to a single core.Apologies for the tangent, but I needed to make sure nobody could defend Microsoft's prior failings by saying "but Apple has secret hardware sauce".
So while not technically "secret sauce," it's certainly "special sauce." Good point.