A scorching potato: Linus Torvalds is sick and uninterested in making an attempt 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 just lately.
Linux Creator Linus Torvalds just lately expressed frustration with change proposals to the Linux kernel which might be solely “required” as a consequence of defective {hardware}. Phoronix notes that Torvalds ranted on the Linux kernel mailing listing during the last week, saying that buggy {hardware} shouldn’t be Linux’s downside, suggesting kernel builders simply say “no” and see what the “{hardware} individuals” say.
“I feel this time we push again on the {hardware} individuals and inform them it is *THEIR* rattling downside, 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, but it surely *may* be an issue’ [sic].”
He is additionally sad about kernel commits that handle theoretical vulnerabilities, particularly these which might be 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 truly proven themselves for use in follow,” he stated.
Linus Torvalds Rising Pissed off By Buggy {Hardware} & Theoretical CPU Attackshttps://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 could be proposed kernel modifications that won’t work with Linear Tackle Masking (LAM) on Arrow Lake and Lunar Lake processors, which is what received Torvalds fired up within the first place. This characteristic permits person area to retailer metadata in some bits of pointers.
In line with Intel Engineer Kirill Shitemov, Intel is changing LAM with LASS (Linear Tackle Area Separation), which is safer because it prevents hackers from accessing digital handle areas throughout person/kernel mode. Shitemov indicated that there was imagined to be a patch that disabled LAM till LASS was prepared for implementation, however the repair “by no means received utilized for some cause.”
Since earlier this 12 months, Intel’s thirteenth and 14th-gen points have prompted complications on many ranges with customers, builders, and inside Intel. The corporate has addressed the issues with beneficial BIOS settings and microcode to various levels of success. Couple that with the long-running challenge 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 deal with its {hardware} points. In the meantime, FOSS builders are unpaid volunteers who’re beneath growing stress to get Linux engaged on dangerous {hardware} whereas conserving it bug-free on good {hardware}. So, his frustration is comprehensible. In fact, Torvalds has by no means shied away from telling {hardware} OEMs the place they’ll go.