Would you be willing to fund a Linux port to Apple Silicon? • Hacker News Board

Re: Would you be willing to fund a Linux port to Apple Silicon?

#61

Post by judge2020 » Sun, Nov 29, 2020, 9:58 PM UTC

hu3 wrote: post #57

pengaru wrote: post #51

Most of what makes the M1 interesting is TSMC's 5nm process, why wouldn't we expect similar results from future x86 CPUs on 5nm or smaller. At least AMD is supporting upstream Linux development for GPU support, if you care about Free software and control over your computers, throw your money at companies better aligned with those goals. Don't reward Apple for being assholes. <=5nm AMD Zen SoCs will be fantastic as we…

Is there an ETA for 5nm AMD SoCs?

Although Apple booked TSMC’s entire production line (for an unknown length of time)[0], this official graph looks like it indicates 5nm before 2022 (so 2021)[1].

0: https://www.extremetech.com/computing/315186-apple-books-tsm...

1: https://youtu.be/iuiO6rqYV4o?t=12m56s

Re: Would you be willing to fund a Linux port to Apple Silicon?

#62

Post by qwerty456127 » Sun, Nov 29, 2020, 9:58 PM UTC

pengaru wrote: post #51

Most of what makes the M1 interesting is TSMC's 5nm process, why wouldn't we expect similar results from future x86 CPUs on 5nm or smaller. At least AMD is supporting upstream Linux development for GPU support, if you care about Free software and control over your computers, throw your money at companies better aligned with those goals. Don't reward Apple for being assholes. <=5nm AMD Zen SoCs will be fantastic as we…

Do the companies better aligned make full-metal laptops challenging MacBookAir durability and design while being 100% Linux-compatible?

Re: Would you be willing to fund a Linux port to Apple Silicon?

#63

Post by bigdict » Sun, Nov 29, 2020, 9:59 PM UTC

pengaru wrote: post #51

Most of what makes the M1 interesting is TSMC's 5nm process, why wouldn't we expect similar results from future x86 CPUs on 5nm or smaller. At least AMD is supporting upstream Linux development for GPU support, if you care about Free software and control over your computers, throw your money at companies better aligned with those goals. Don't reward Apple for being assholes. <=5nm AMD Zen SoCs will be fantastic as we…

Or do support Linux on M1 because you do want it, and reward Apple for making good hardware.

Re: Would you be willing to fund a Linux port to Apple Silicon?

#64

Post by m00x » Sun, Nov 29, 2020, 9:59 PM UTC

devwastaken wrote: post #54

Apple won't support it, therefore support and maintenance will be working around apples proprietary hardware and special drivers. Linux is not meant to live in that environment, I'd argue bettering support for other OEM's is a more fruitfull goal.

If anyone has been following nvidia/linux story, this nails it on the head. Apple has never played well with FOSS and aren't going to start now. Apple's implementation will always be ahead, better, less bugs, and the linux port will always be a shitty experience that takes up several weeks to get working properly, and then it'll be slower than expected.

Get yourself a laptop with an nvidia card and Ubuntu. Even today it's a garbage experience that takes up hours/days of debugging to get right, and then it's still way worse than the mac/windows experience.

Re: Would you be willing to fund a Linux port to Apple Silicon?

#65

Post by lumost » Sun, Nov 29, 2020, 9:59 PM UTC

pengaru wrote: post #51

Most of what makes the M1 interesting is TSMC's 5nm process, why wouldn't we expect similar results from future x86 CPUs on 5nm or smaller. At least AMD is supporting upstream Linux development for GPU support, if you care about Free software and control over your computers, throw your money at companies better aligned with those goals. Don't reward Apple for being assholes. <=5nm AMD Zen SoCs will be fantastic as we…

I could be mistaken, but I’m unaware of any kernel capabilities/optimizations for heterogeneous cores with differing power requirements. System memory for both gpu and cpu workloads would also be a new requirement requiring some thought.

I’d expect it to be difficult for amd/intel to match performance without similar software capabilities.

Re: Would you be willing to fund a Linux port to Apple Silicon?

#66

Post by Ecco » Sun, Nov 29, 2020, 9:59 PM UTC

I understand why the developer would like to get a recurring form of revenue, but as a consumer buying a subscription makes no sense at all!

The goods obtained (Linux on MabBookAirX,Y) are very much non-recurring by nature...

Re: Would you be willing to fund a Linux port to Apple Silicon?

#67

Post by amedvednikov » Sun, Nov 29, 2020, 10:01 PM UTC

jhfdbkofdcho wrote: post #59

dilyevsky wrote: post #56

Twitter seems like a poor choice for this (anything really?). Is there a gofundme or something?

He should do a Patreon. Other people have done this sort of thing with this model over there. Seems sustainable.

Github Sponsors is better. No fees/VAT.

Re: Would you be willing to fund a Linux port to Apple Silicon?

#68

Post by doublepg23 » Sun, Nov 29, 2020, 10:03 PM UTC

qwerty456127 wrote: post #62

pengaru wrote: post #51

Most of what makes the M1 interesting is TSMC's 5nm process, why wouldn't we expect similar results from future x86 CPUs on 5nm or smaller. At least AMD is supporting upstream Linux development for GPU support, if you care about Free software and control over your computers, throw your money at companies better aligned with those goals. Don't reward Apple for being assholes. <=5nm AMD Zen SoCs will be fantastic as we…

Do the companies better aligned make full-metal laptops challenging MacBookAir durability and design while being 100% Linux-compatible?

I'm hoping in the future System76 does, they're already making excellent desktop machines.

Re: Would you be willing to fund a Linux port to Apple Silicon?

#69

Post by Eric_WVGG » Sun, Nov 29, 2020, 10:03 PM UTC

pengaru wrote: post #51

Most of what makes the M1 interesting is TSMC's 5nm process, why wouldn't we expect similar results from future x86 CPUs on 5nm or smaller. At least AMD is supporting upstream Linux development for GPU support, if you care about Free software and control over your computers, throw your money at companies better aligned with those goals. Don't reward Apple for being assholes. <=5nm AMD Zen SoCs will be fantastic as we…

I’m not sure that’s exactly accurate. The special JavaScript instructions, and the optimizations to retain/release counts within memory blocks, seem much more interesting. https://mobile.twitter.com/ErrataRob/status/1331735383193903...

I haven’t the foggiest idea if any of this could make it to competing ARM chips, but given how many years Snapdragons have been lagging relative to the iPhone “A” chips, I don’t feel too optimistic.

Re: Would you be willing to fund a Linux port to Apple Silicon?

#70

Post by judge2020 » Sun, Nov 29, 2020, 10:05 PM UTC

pengaru wrote: post #60

hu3 wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there an ETA for 5nm AMD SoCs?

Not AFAIK, but it's not like 7nm AMD SoCs are intolerable dogs. Most M1 vs. PC comparisons are being made against Intel's ancient process, for obvious Apple-favoring reasons.

It’s mostly compared to Intel since there’s no official AMD support on MacOS whatsoever. You very well could compare hackintosh AMD to Apple’s M1, but it wouldn’t be comparing Apples to Apples. There are indeed AMD Windows comparisons, however[0].

0: https://youtu.be/4MkrEMjPk24?t=10m39s