Messages in this thread | | | Date | Tue, 29 Jul 2008 15:04:55 -0500 | From | Cliff Wickman <> | Subject | Re: Comments on UV tlb flushing |
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On Tue, Jul 29, 2008 at 10:46:41AM -0700, Jeremy Fitzhardinge wrote: > Cliff Wickman wrote: >> But if the tlb_uv.o code should be present in "every" distro x86 kernel >> I don't see the point of having to configure it in. Why not just >> configure it out for small (embedded) kernels? > > Because it's not an binary thing. Lots of people who are compiling > their own kernels for specialized uses don't set CONFIG_EMBEDDED, but > also don't want a kitchen sink kernel. 6k isn't that much, but if every > obscure platform enabled some always-on code it rapidly starts to build > up.
But UV will not be obscure! It will be common among x86_64 :) I know what you're talking about. It may sometimes be useful to turn off chunks of code you don't need. But is the specialized application of 64-bit processors big enough to warrant the feature? The size of most any 64-bit system would, I would think, make 6k of code insignificant. And the more options you add, the more likely someone will pick combinations that won't work together.
> Basically, if you want to make sure if you're going to get some level of > distro support, you need to make contact with the distros directly and > talk about what you'd like them to do. > J And we do. And could reasonably expect that they would turn on that option for x86_64 kernels. We'd just, of course, rather not have to watch and prompt to be sure all x86_64 kernels will run on our hardware.
-Cliff -- Cliff Wickman Silicon Graphics, Inc. cpw@sgi.com (651) 683-3824
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