Kernel: ZDNet Misinformation, Other Linux-Hostile FUD, Upcoming Features

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Feb 28, 2023

• A Linux-on-M1 update [LWN.net]

  The Asahi Linux project has posted an update and reality check on the status of Linux support for Apple's M1 hardware.

• Asahi Linux

  There is an ongoing news cycle about Linux 6.2 being the first kernel to support the M1, started by ZDNET. This article is misleading and borderline false.

  You will not be able to run Ubuntu nor any other standard distro with 6.2 on any M1 Mac. Please don't get your hopes up.

• Linux is not exactly “ready to run” on Apple silicon, but give it time

  It's an odd thing to see the leaders of an impressive open source project ask the press and their followers to please calm down and stop celebrating their accomplishments.

  But that's the situation the Asahi Linux team finds itself in after many reports last week that the recently issued Linux 6.2 kernel made Linux "ready to run" on Apple's M-series hardware. It is true that upstream support for Apple's M1 chips is present in 6.2 and that the 6.2 kernel will gradually make its way into many popular distributions, including Ubuntu and Fedora. Work on Apple's integrated GPU by the four-person Asahi core team has come remarkably far. And founder Linus Torvalds himself is particularly eager to see Linux running on his favorite portable hardware, going so far as to issue a kernel in August 2022 from an M2 MacBook Air.

  But the builders of the one Linux system that runs pretty well on Apple silicon are asking everybody to please just give it a moment.

• SSDFS is a New Linux Filesystem for NVMe ZNS SSDs

  ZNS stands for 'Zoned Namespaces'; it is a relatively new command set for NVMe SSDs that exposes a zoned block storage interface between the host and the SSD, allowing it to align the data better.

  To complement that, a new Linux file system 'SSDFS' has been proposed to be included in the kernel by a developer that aims to leverage ZNS for lower I/O latency, reduced write amplification, prolonged SSD lifetime, and more.

  Let's take a look at it.

• XanMod Linux Kernel 6.2.1 Released: What’s New

  If you're searching for an exceptional Linux kernel distribution that will guarantee a steady and efficient desktop experience, look no further than XanMod.