NetBSD 8.0 released

#1

Post by algorithm314 » Sat, Jul 21, 2018, 2:56 PM UTC

Re: NetBSD 8.0 released

#2

Post by avar » Sat, Jul 21, 2018, 4:14 PM UTC

    > USB stack rework, USB3 support added.

I didn't realize NetBSD was that far behind on some basic features like USB support.

"The Linux kernel mainline contains support for USB 3.0 since version 2.6.31, which was released in September 2009"[1]. "FreeBSD supports USB 3.0 since version 8.2, which was released in February 2011.".

So they're getting USB 3.0 almost 10 years after it was released for Linux.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_3.0

Re: NetBSD 8.0 released

#3

Post by PeCaN » Sat, Jul 21, 2018, 4:17 PM UTC

avar wrote: post #2

> USB stack rework, USB3 support added. I didn't realize NetBSD was that far behind on some basic features like USB support. "The Linux kernel mainline contains support for USB 3.0 since version 2.6.31, which was released in September 2009"[1]. "FreeBSD supports USB 3.0 since version 8.2, which was released in February 2011.". So they're getting USB 3.0 almost 10 years after it was released for Linux. 1. https://en.w…

Most of the machines NetBSD runs on don't have USB 3 ports.

Re: NetBSD 8.0 released

#4

Post by zippie » Sat, Jul 21, 2018, 4:17 PM UTC

This release of NetBSD disables eagerfpu on vulnerable FPU’s.

Often overlooked while discussing performance impact of context switching; context switching also applies to the FPU. There are two modes in which the OS performs FPU context switching: lazy and eager.

“lazy” FPU context switching leaves the previous context on the FPU until a different context gives it a set of instructions. This saves an unload on the FPU, since not all time splices require the FPU, you may see some performance gains under some application workloads.

“Eager” FPU context switching unloads FPU context whenever a time splice is finished. On a new time splice, the FPU context is reloaded. While this constant reloading of context sounds more expensive, it is optimized in hardware and almost never noticeable on modern architectures.

By default eager FPU is enabled in Linux. You can test its’ impact by passing the eagerfpu=on or eagerfpu=off boot flags (Linux).

Kudos to the NetBSD team for enabling/disabling eager FPU based on FPU model instead. This approach makes more sense to me.

Re: NetBSD 8.0 released

#5

Post by PeCaN » Sat, Jul 21, 2018, 4:23 PM UTC

zippie wrote: post #4

This release of NetBSD disables eagerfpu on vulnerable FPU’s. Often overlooked while discussing performance impact of context switching; context switching also applies to the FPU. There are two modes in which the OS performs FPU context switching: lazy and eager. “lazy” FPU context switching leaves the previous context on the FPU until a different context gives it a set of instructions. This saves an unload on the FP…

>This release of NetBSD disables eagerfpu.

Actually this release enables eagerfpu on all Intel CPUs, because of CVE-2018-3665 (lazyfpu side channel attack).

Re: NetBSD 8.0 released

#6

Post by hnarn » Sat, Jul 21, 2018, 4:27 PM UTC

PeCaN wrote: post #3

avar wrote: post #2

> USB stack rework, USB3 support added. I didn't realize NetBSD was that far behind on some basic features like USB support. "The Linux kernel mainline contains support for USB 3.0 since version 2.6.31, which was released in September 2009"[1]. "FreeBSD supports USB 3.0 since version 8.2, which was released in February 2011.". So they're getting USB 3.0 almost 10 years after it was released for Linux. 1. https://en.w…

Most of the machines NetBSD runs on don't have USB 3 ports.

Also, isn't 3.0 fully backward compatible with 2.0? I imagine this would affect how critical people would classify support to be developed, if everything already works, just slower.

Re: NetBSD 8.0 released

#7

Post by donbright » Sat, Jul 21, 2018, 4:27 PM UTC

avar wrote: post #2

> USB stack rework, USB3 support added. I didn't realize NetBSD was that far behind on some basic features like USB support. "The Linux kernel mainline contains support for USB 3.0 since version 2.6.31, which was released in September 2009"[1]. "FreeBSD supports USB 3.0 since version 8.2, which was released in February 2011.". So they're getting USB 3.0 almost 10 years after it was released for Linux. 1. https://en.w…

well, toasters didn't start having USB 3 until recently...

Re: NetBSD 8.0 released

#8

Post by agumonkey » Sat, Jul 21, 2018, 4:30 PM UTC

PeCaN wrote: post #3

avar wrote: post #2

> USB stack rework, USB3 support added. I didn't realize NetBSD was that far behind on some basic features like USB support. "The Linux kernel mainline contains support for USB 3.0 since version 2.6.31, which was released in September 2009"[1]. "FreeBSD supports USB 3.0 since version 8.2, which was released in February 2011.". So they're getting USB 3.0 almost 10 years after it was released for Linux. 1. https://en.w…

Most of the machines NetBSD runs on don't have USB 3 ports.

and usb3 is such a large piece of interface I'm not sad netbsd is taking its sweet time to make it solid.

Re: NetBSD 8.0 released

#9

Post by ahoka » Sat, Jul 21, 2018, 4:32 PM UTC

avar wrote: post #2

> USB stack rework, USB3 support added. I didn't realize NetBSD was that far behind on some basic features like USB support. "The Linux kernel mainline contains support for USB 3.0 since version 2.6.31, which was released in September 2009"[1]. "FreeBSD supports USB 3.0 since version 8.2, which was released in February 2011.". So they're getting USB 3.0 almost 10 years after it was released for Linux. 1. https://en.w…

TBH I never had or needed any USB3 device.

Re: NetBSD 8.0 released

#10

Post by somethingsimple » Sat, Jul 21, 2018, 4:34 PM UTC

Does anyone here on HN have experience running NetBSD as their desktop OS?