GCC 15.1's Rust Front-End Gets Major Boost

2025-03-24

The upcoming GCC 15.1 release will feature significant improvements to its Rust front-end, gccrs. Arthur Cohen of Embecosm merged a third patch set adding support for Rust's "if let" statements, massive changes to internal AST/HIR representations, and full implementation of Clone and Copy. Further improvements, including support for PartialOrd and PartialEq, are expected before the release, making gccrs a more viable alternative to rustc.

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Development

Intel Drops 256-bit AVX-10 Mode, Goes All-in on 512-bit

2025-03-19

Intel has significantly revised its AVX-10 instruction set whitepaper, abandoning the previously planned optional 256-bit mode in favor of a full 512-bit vector width. This means future Intel E-core processors will fully support AVX-512, aligning with AMD's Zen 4 architecture. The change stems from updated GCC compiler patches removing 256-bit compatibility. This simplifies instruction set handling and boosts the competitiveness of future Intel Xeon E-core server platforms, better competing with AMD's EPYC processors. While a late decision, it positively impacts the future of the x86_64 microarchitecture.

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Hardware 512-bit vector

Phoronix Founder Michael Larabel: 20 Years of Linux Hardware Benchmarking

2025-03-18

Michael Larabel, principal author of Phoronix.com, founded the site in 2004, focusing on enhancing the Linux hardware experience. He's penned over 20,000 articles covering Linux hardware support, performance, graphics drivers, and more. He also leads development of the Phoronix Test Suite, Phoromatic, and OpenBenchmarking.org automated benchmarking software. A true veteran of the open-source world, his contributions have been invaluable to the Linux community.

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Tech

Michael Larabel: 20 Years of Deep Dives into Linux Hardware

2025-03-17

Michael Larabel, founder and principal author of Phoronix.com, has dedicated himself since 2004 to enriching the Linux hardware experience. He's written over 20,000 articles covering Linux hardware support, performance, graphics drivers, and more. He's also the lead developer behind the Phoronix Test Suite, Phoromatic, and OpenBenchmarking.org automated benchmarking software.

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Tech

GCC 15 to Support COBOL!

2025-03-11

A major update is coming to the GCC 15 compiler: COBOL language front-end support has been merged! This is a significant step forward for GCC's COBOL support, facilitating the migration of legacy mainframe COBOL applications to Linux and cloud environments. While COBOL's popularity isn't what it once was, this merge is still a welcome surprise. Developers can use the `gcobol` command to invoke the COBOL compiler front-end. Expect COBOL support alongside many other features in the GCC 15.1 stable release in the coming weeks.

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Development

RTX 5090 Shows Early Promise in Llama.cpp AI Benchmarks

2025-03-10

Following CUDA, OpenCL, and OptiX benchmark testing of the RTX 5090, reader interest prompted an investigation into its AI performance, specifically with Llama.cpp. Initial benchmarks comparing the RTX 5090, RTX 40-series, and RTX 30-series cards using Llama.cpp (with Llama 3.1 and Mistral 7B models) show significant performance gains for the RTX 5090 in text generation and prompt processing. Further, more in-depth benchmarks will follow based on reader interest.

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Michael Larabel: 20 Years of Linux Hardware Benchmarking

2025-03-09

Michael Larabel, founder and principal author of Phoronix.com, has dedicated himself since 2004 to enriching the Linux hardware experience. He's penned over 20,000 articles covering Linux hardware support, performance, graphics drivers, and more. Beyond writing, he's the lead developer of automated benchmarking software like the Phoronix Test Suite, Phoromatic, and OpenBenchmarking.org. A true pioneer in the Linux open-source world.

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Tech

Michael Larabel: The Linux Hardware Guru Behind Phoronix

2025-03-06

Michael Larabel, founder and principal author of Phoronix.com (est. 2004), has dedicated his career to enhancing the Linux hardware experience. He's penned over 20,000 articles on Linux hardware support, performance, graphics drivers, and more. Larabel is also the lead developer of the widely-used benchmarking software Phoronix Test Suite, Phoromatic, and OpenBenchmarking.org.

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Michael Larabel: 20 Years of Linux Hardware Benchmarking

2025-03-03

Michael Larabel, founder and principal author of Phoronix.com, has dedicated himself since 2004 to improving the Linux hardware experience. He's penned over 20,000 articles covering Linux hardware support, performance, graphics drivers, and more. Beyond writing, he's the lead developer of the Phoronix Test Suite, Phoromatic, and OpenBenchmarking.org – automated benchmarking software crucial to the Linux community.

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Tech

Linux Kernel Embraces Rust: The End of C's Memory Safety Nightmares?

2025-02-20

Greg KH, a long-time Linux kernel maintainer, advocates for using Rust to rewrite parts of the kernel in an LKML post. He argues that a significant portion of kernel bugs stem from subtle flaws in C, which Rust's memory safety features would effectively prevent. While a complete migration to Rust is unrealistic, writing new code and drivers in Rust would dramatically reduce bugs and improve development efficiency. Greg urges kernel developers to embrace Rust for the long-term health of the Linux project.

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Development

Linux Kernel Rust Controversy: Maintainer Rejects Linus's Push

2025-02-18

Linux kernel maintainer Christoph Hellwig publicly opposes the forced adoption of Rust in the kernel. He points out that Linus Torvalds privately stated he would override maintainers' vetoes and merge Rust code anyway. Hellwig worries this will turn the kernel codebase into an unmaintainable multi-language mess, increasing maintenance burden and ultimately harming the kernel's long-term stability. He argues that addressing kernel memory safety issues should prioritize improving existing code, not introducing a new language, and calls for clear language usage guidelines.

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Development

Michael Larabel: 20 Years of Linux Hardware Benchmarking

2025-02-18

Michael Larabel, founder of Phoronix.com (established in 2004), has dedicated his career to enhancing the Linux hardware experience. He's authored over 20,000 articles covering Linux hardware support, performance, graphics drivers, and more. He also leads development of the Phoronix Test Suite, Phoromatic, and OpenBenchmarking.org automated benchmarking software.

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Tech

Veteran Open-Source Driver Developer Resigns Over Inclusivity Concerns

2025-02-17

Longtime Nouveau driver developer Karol Herbst resigned as a maintainer of the open-source NVIDIA Linux graphics driver due to disagreements with the upstream Linux kernel community regarding inclusivity and respect. In his resignation, Herbst stated his belief that the open-source community should operate on principles of equality and respect, expressing his disapproval of statements made by other maintainers perceived as exclusionary. He cited the phrase "we are the thin blue line" as a particular concern, highlighting the harm such statements cause. While Red Hat developers Lyude Paul and Danilo Krummrich will continue Nouveau maintenance, Red Hat is also developing NOVA, a new Rust-based open-source NVIDIA kernel driver.

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Development Nouveau driver

Michael Larabel: 20 Years of Linux Hardware Expertise

2025-02-11

Michael Larabel, founder of Phoronix.com (established 2004), has dedicated two decades to enriching the Linux hardware experience. He's authored over 20,000 articles covering Linux hardware support, performance, graphics drivers, and more. Beyond writing, Larabel leads development of the Phoronix Test Suite, Phoromatic, and OpenBenchmarking.org—influential benchmarking tools for the open-source community.

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Tech

Systemd to Boot Directly from HTTP-Downloaded Disk Images

2025-02-11

Systemd lead developer Lennart Poettering is adding the ability to boot directly from a disk image downloaded via HTTP within the initial RAM disk (initrd) during the Linux boot process. Building on recent systemd additions, this allows downloading the root disk image via HTTP, attaching it to a loopback device, and mounting it. The goal is to allow pointing UEFI to a URL to load the Unified Kernel Image (UKI) and boot the root filesystem. The immediate use case is simplifying physical device testing by easily booting new root filesystems over HTTP on each boot. The work-in-progress pull request includes the initial code for this; future extensions may include NVMe-over-TCP support.

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Development boot

Linux 6.14 Kernel: KVM Virtualization Gets a Boost

2025-01-31

The upcoming Linux 6.14 kernel includes a significant number of updates to its Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) subsystem. Improvements include removing redundant TLB flushes on AMD CPUs, an overhaul of the KVM x86 CPUID feature infrastructure for better vCPU capability tracking, continued work on Intel Trust Domain Extensions (TDX) VM support, refined VM-exit handling for improved VMX/SVM parity, and added Zabha, Svvptc, and Ziccrse extension support for RISC-V KVM guests. These changes promise enhanced performance and stability for virtual machines.

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Development

Linux 6.14 Brings Much Faster Suspend/Resume Times

2025-01-26

Linux kernel 6.14 boasts significantly faster suspend and resume times for some systems thanks to an ACPI update. The change replaces msleep() with usleep_range() in acpi_os_sleep(), reducing spurious delays caused by timer inaccuracies. Testing shows dramatic improvements, with some Dell XPS laptops seeing suspend/resume times drop from 8 seconds to around 1 second. This optimization is particularly beneficial for systems relying on short sleep times, such as those using tight loops with ASL Sleep(5ms).

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Development Suspend/Resume

Linux 6.14 Adds Support for Microsoft Copilot Key

2025-01-24

The Linux 6.14 kernel introduces support for the Microsoft Copilot key found on new laptops pre-loaded with Windows. This key, used to launch Microsoft's Copilot AI assistant or similar chatbot software, was previously unmapped in Linux. The update modifies the atkbd keyboard driver, mapping the F23 key to the Copilot shortcut (Meta+Shift+F23). Additionally, Linux 6.14 boasts enhanced game controller support and other input subsystem improvements.

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Development Hardware Support

Linux 6.13 Stable Released: AMD Optimizations, Broader Apple Support & More

2025-01-20

The Linux 6.13 stable kernel is here, bringing exciting features like AMD 3D V-Cache optimizations for Ryzen X3D processors, improved power efficiency for AMD EPYC 9005 "Turin" servers, support for older Apple devices, and AutoFDO/Propeller compiler optimizations. Initial Intel Xe3 graphics support, NVMe 2.1 support, and expanded Rust language infrastructure are also included. Marking the first major kernel release of 2025, Linux 6.13 significantly boosts performance and hardware compatibility.

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Development

Sony Pushes for C++20 as LLVM Clang's Default

2025-01-11

Sony engineers are proposing a change to the default C++ mode in the LLVM Clang compiler, switching from C++17 to C++20. This aligns with Sony's upcoming plans to make C++20 the default for their PlayStation 5 compiler. While some C++20 test cases currently fail and Clang's C++20 support isn't yet complete, Sony intends to contribute a build/test bot to assist upstream development. This initiative aims to accelerate Clang's adoption of C++20, leading to a more efficient compilation environment for game development.

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Development

Lenovo Unveils SteamOS-Powered Legion Go S Handheld

2025-01-08

Lenovo officially announced the Legion Go S handheld gaming console at CES, the world's first officially licensed SteamOS handheld. Pre-loaded with Valve's Arch Linux-based SteamOS, it features cloud saves, Remote Play, and full access to the Steam Store and Library. Powered by the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor and Radeon 700M graphics, it boasts an 8-inch 1200p display, up to 32GB of RAM, and up to 1TB of SSD storage. Priced at $500 USD, it will be available in May. Notably, it uses the Ryzen Z1 Extreme, not the newly announced Ryzen Z2.

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Lenovo Unveils Legion Go S Handheld with SteamOS

2025-01-07

At CES 2025, Lenovo officially launched its new handheld gaming console, the Legion Go S, officially licensed by Valve and featuring SteamOS. This announcement sparked discussions about its competition with the Steam Deck and Valve's quality control measures for third-party SteamOS devices. Some commentators suggest the Legion Go S may outperform the Steam Deck, but concerns remain regarding driver support and compatibility issues with third-party hardware.

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Hardware handheld Lenovo

Intel Core Ultra 9 285K "Arrow Lake": Windows 11 vs. Ubuntu Linux Performance Showdown

2024-12-20

Phoronix conducted a comprehensive benchmark comparing the performance of Intel's flagship Core Ultra 9 285K "Arrow Lake" processor on Windows 11 and Ubuntu Linux. Testing included various Linux kernel versions and power management settings. Results showed Linux sometimes edging out Windows in performance, thanks to Linux's flexibility and optimizations for newer kernels. The benchmarks highlight the impact of OS choice on processor performance, offering valuable insights for users choosing an operating system.

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DOOM Ported to Run Entirely on AMD GPUs

2024-12-15

An AMD developer has successfully ported the classic game DOOM to run almost entirely on AMD GPUs. Leveraging the ROCm library and the LLVM libc C library, the port offloads rendering and game logic to the GPU, handling OS functions via an RPC interface. This impressive feat showcases the potential of the LLVM C library for GPU programming and opens exciting possibilities for game development.

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Game GPU Gaming