Messages in this thread | | | Date | Wed, 11 Apr 2001 02:56:32 +0200 | From | David Weinehall <> | Subject | Re: [PATCH] i386 rw_semaphores fix |
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On Wed, Apr 11, 2001 at 02:20:28AM +0200, Andi Kleen wrote: > On Wed, Apr 11, 2001 at 02:13:18AM +0200, David Weinehall wrote: > > > > > > Yes, and with CMPXCHG handler in the kernel it wouldn't be needed > > > (the other 686 optimizations like memcpy also work on 386) > > > > But the code would be much slower, and it's on 386's and similarly > > slow beasts you need every cycle you can get, NOT on a Pentium IV. > > My reasoning is that who uses a 386 is not interested in speed, so a little > bit more slowness is not that bad.
My reasoning is that the choice of computer is a direct function of your financial situation. I can get hold of a lot of 386's/486's, but however old a Pentium may be, people are still reluctant to give away those. Doing the sometimes necessary updates on my 386:en is already painfully slow, and I'd rather not take another performance hit.
> You realize that the alternative for distributions is to drop 386 support > completely?
Yes, I realise that. But if _distribution X_ drops support for the 386, there's always _distribution Y_ available with it still in, while if we give the glibc-people the thumbs up saying "Ignore the 386 users from now on", every distribution will get lousy performance on those machines.
> Most 386 i've seen used for linux do not run multi threaded applications > anyways; they usually do things like ISDN routing. Also on early 386 with > the kernel mode wp bug it's a security hazard to use clone().
Well, not all 386:en are early...
/David _ _ // David Weinehall <tao@acc.umu.se> /> Northern lights wander \\ // Project MCA Linux hacker // Dance across the winter sky // \> http://www.acc.umu.se/~tao/ </ Full colour fire </ - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/
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