Re: X15 alpha release: as fast as TUX but in user space (fwd)

Gregory Maxwell
2001-04-29T20:18:52Z

On Sun, Apr 29, 2001 at 10:11:59PM +0200, Ingo Oeser wrote:
[snip]
> The point is: The code in that "magic page" that considers the
> tradeoff is KERNEL code, which is designed to care about such
> trade-offs for that machine. Glibc never knows this stuff and
> shouldn't, because it is already bloated.
>
> We get the full win here, for our "compile the kernel for THIS
> machine to get maximum performance"-strategy.
>
> People tend to compile the kernel, but not the glibc.
>
> Just let the benchmarks, Linus and Ulrich decide ;-)

The kernel can even customize the page at runtime if it needs to, such as
changing algorithims to deal with lock contention.

Of course, this page will need to present a stable interface to glibc, and
having both the code and a comprehensive jump-table might become tough in a
single page...