Re: RFC: [2.6 patch] better i386 CPU selection

Andi Kleen
2003-09-14T00:08:21Z

Adrian Bunk <bunk@fs.tum.de> writes:
>
> I don't like the current user interface that says "if you want to
> support both an Athlon and a Pentium 4 in your kernel use the Pentium III
> option. And for better optimization, also check the "generic" option".

The big issue with your ifdefing of workarounds is that it causes subtle
support problems. A lot of settings for specific CPUs boot and work
fine on other CPUs (possibly with small performance impact, but they're
rarely noticeable without explicit benchmarking). Just when you don't
include the workarounds for the bugs on these other CPUs it will boot and
even run, but fail mysteriously once a month. And that would be a support
nightmare.

-Andi