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Meta is using the Linux scheduler designed for Valve's Steam Deck on its servers

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Re: Meta is using the Linux scheduler designed for Valve's Steam Deck on its servers

#331

Post by thanksgiving »

ffsm8 wrote: post #325
abustamam wrote: post #323

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes please! Stop making me download 100+gb patches!

The large file sizes are not because of bloat per-se... It's a technique which supposedly helped at one point in time to reduce loading times, helldiver's being the most note-able example of removing this "optimization". However, this is by design - specifically as an optimization. Can't really be calling that boat in the parents context of inefficient resource usage

We aren't talking about the initial downloads though. We are talking about updates. I am like 80% sure you should be able to send what changed without sending the whole game as if you were downloading it for the first time.

Re: Meta is using the Linux scheduler designed for Valve's Steam Deck on its servers

#332

Post by ranger207 »

bigyabai wrote: post #8
kstrauser wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm more surprised that the scheduler made for a handheld gaming console is also demonstrably good for Facebook's servers.

I mean, part of it is that Linux's default scheduler is braindead by modern standards: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Completely_Fair_Scheduler

A lot of scheduler experimentation has been enabled by sched_ext: https://lwn.net/Articles/922405/

Re: Meta is using the Linux scheduler designed for Valve's Steam Deck on its servers

#333

Post by fooker »

jandrese wrote: post #148
7bit wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And behind on a lot of stuff. The Microsoft's ACLs are nothing short of one of the best designed permission systems there are. On the surface, they are as simple as Linux UOG/rwx stuff if you want it to be, but you can really, REALLY dive into the technology and apply super specific permissions.

> The Microsoft's ACLs are nothing short of one of the best designed permission systems there are. You have a hardened Windows 11 system. A critical application was brought forward from a Windows 10 box but it failed, probably a permissions issue somewhere. Debug it and get it working. You can not try to pass this off to the vendor, it is on you to fix it. Go.

Is this a trick question, because you run it as administrator in a sandboxed account.

Re: Meta is using the Linux scheduler designed for Valve's Steam Deck on its servers

#334

Post by ffsm8 »

thanksgiving wrote: post #331
ffsm8 wrote: post #325

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The large file sizes are not because of bloat per-se... It's a technique which supposedly helped at one point in time to reduce loading times, helldiver's being the most note-able example of removing this "optimization". However, this is by design - specifically as an optimization. Can't really be calling that boat in the parents context of inefficient resource usage

We aren't talking about the initial downloads though. We are talking about updates. I am like 80% sure you should be able to send what changed without sending the whole game as if you were downloading it for the first time.

from my understanding of the technique youre wrong despite being 80% sure ;)

any changes to the code or textures will need the same preprocessing done. large patch size is basically 1% of changes + 99% all the preprocessed data for this optimization

Re: Meta is using the Linux scheduler designed for Valve's Steam Deck on its servers

#335

Post by mixmastamyk »

delusional wrote: post #95
Fiveplus wrote: post #17

Valve is practically singlehandedly dragging the Linux ecosystem forward in areas that nobody else wanted to touch. They needed Windows games to run on Linux so we got massive Proton/Wine advancements. They needed better display output for the deck and we got HDR and VRR support in wayland. They also needed smoother frame pacing and we got a scheduler that Zuck is now using to run data centers. Its funny to think tha…

> Valve is practically singlehandedly dragging the Linux ecosystem forward in areas that nobody else wanted to touch. I'm loving what valve has been doing, and their willingness to shove money into projects that have long been under invested in, BUT. Please don't forget all the volunteers that have developed these systems for years before valve decided to step up. All of this is only possible because a ton of differe…

Like giving the Han Solo award to the Rebel Fleet. ;-)

Re: Meta is using the Linux scheduler designed for Valve's Steam Deck on its servers

#336

Post by ahartmetz »

I keep being puzzled by the unwillingness of developers to deal with scheduling issues. Many developers avoid optimization, almost all avoid scheduling. There are some pretty interesting algorithms and data structures in that space, and doing it well almost always improves user experience. Often it even decreases total wall-clock time for a given set of tasks.

Re: Meta is using the Linux scheduler designed for Valve's Steam Deck on its servers

#337

Post by miohtama »

zargon wrote: post #144
dabockster wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From what I read, it was a lot of the prosumer/gamer brands (MSI, Gigabyte, ASUS) implementing their part of sleep/hibernate badly on their motherboards. Which honestly lines up with my experience with them and other chips they use (in my case, USB controllers). Lots of RGB and maybe overclocking tech, but the cheapest power management and connectivity chips they can get (arguably what usually gets used the most by p…

Sleep brokenness is ecosystem-wide. My Thinkpad crashes/freezes during sleep 3 times a week. Lenovo serviced/replaced it 3 times to no avail.

I have had never any sleep issues with my Macs.

Re: Meta is using the Linux scheduler designed for Valve's Steam Deck on its servers

#338

Post by laggyluke »

ffsm8 wrote: post #334
thanksgiving wrote: post #331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We aren't talking about the initial downloads though. We are talking about updates. I am like 80% sure you should be able to send what changed without sending the whole game as if you were downloading it for the first time.

from my understanding of the technique youre wrong despite being 80% sure ;) any changes to the code or textures will need the same preprocessing done. large patch size is basically 1% of changes + 99% all the preprocessed data for this optimization

How about incorporating postprocessing into the update procedure instead of preprocessing?

Re: Meta is using the Linux scheduler designed for Valve's Steam Deck on its servers

#339

Post by PlanksVariable »

sneak wrote: post #328
PlanksVariable wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course smaller companies exist — there are 1 person companies! But in a world where many tech companies have 50,000+ employees, 300 is much closer to 100 or 10 and they can all be considered small. And then you consider it in context: a company with huge impact, brand recognition, and revenue (about $50M/employee in 2025). They’ve remained extremely small compared to how big they could grow.

> many tech companies have 50,000+ employees There are not many tech companies with 50k+ employees, as a point of fact. I’m not arguing just to argue - 300 people isn’t small by any measure. It’s absolutely not “extremely small” as was claimed. It’s not relatively small, it’s not “small for what they are doing”, it’s just not small at all. 300 people is a large company. The fact that a very small number of ultrahuge…

You certainly seem to be arguing just to argue. You’re comparing Valve to the companies you choose to work for or the median German company, but those are irrelevant. You’re using the wrong reference set.

Valve is a global, revenue-dominant, platform-level technology company. In its category, 300 employees is extremely small.

Valve is not a German company, so that’s an odd context, but if you want to use Germany for reference, here are the five German companies with the closest revenue to Valve’s:

- Infineon Technologies, $16.4B revenue, 57,000 employees

- Evonik Industries, $16B, 31,930 employees

- Covestro, $15.2B, 17,520 employees

- Commerzbank, $14.6B, 39,000 employees

- Zalando, $12.9B, 15,793 employees

Re: Meta is using the Linux scheduler designed for Valve's Steam Deck on its servers

#340

Post by trinsic2 »

pityJuke wrote: post #322
trinsic2 wrote: post #317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you want to see how bad this really is, take a look at AAA games like call of duty where they dynamically alter in game loot mechanics to get people to purchase in game items. Value is chump change in this department. They allow the practice of purchasing loot boxes and items but don't analyze and manipulate behaviors. Valve is the least bad actor in this department. I watched half the video and found it pretty bi…

> call of duty where they dynamically alter in game loot mechanics to get people to purchase in game items. [Citation needed] > I certainly dont think that Valve designed there systems to encourage gambling Cases are literally slot machines. > [section about third-party websites] I don't think Valve deliberately encouraged it. OK, but they continue to allow it (through poor enforcement of their own ToS), and it conti…

If you say so. Sorry not see any of this. Valve is a good company and there reputation has been developed over the years as such.
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