Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id ; Tue, 10 Apr 2001 15:57:13 -0400 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id ; Tue, 10 Apr 2001 15:56:53 -0400 Received: from panic.ohr.gatech.edu ([130.207.47.194]:53121 "HELO havoc.gtf.org") by vger.kernel.org with SMTP id ; Tue, 10 Apr 2001 15:56:46 -0400 Message-ID: <3AD3657C.687DA9F7@mandrakesoft.com> Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2001 15:56:44 -0400 From: Jeff Garzik Organization: MandrakeSoft X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.76 [en] (X11; U; Linux 2.4.4-pre1 i686) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Linus Torvalds Cc: Kernel Mailing List Subject: x86 cpu configuration (was: Re: [PATCH] i386 rw_semaphores fix) In-Reply-To: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Linus Torvalds wrote: > That's no problem if we make this SMP-specific - I doubt anybody actually > uses SMP on i486's even if the machines exist, as I think they all had > special glue logic that Linux would have trouble with anyway. But the > advantages of being able to use one generic kernel that works on plain UP > i386 machines as well as SMP P6+ machines is big enough that I would want > to be able to say "CONFIG_X86_GENERIC" + "CONFIG_SMP". (slight tangent) FWIW I think the i386 CPU selection logic in make config should be reconsidered in 2.5+... The alpha presents you with a list of platforms, and allows you to select a specific one, or a generic option that includes all platforms. The current way of doing things on x86 -- essentially selecting a minimal level of CPU support -- is nice for vendors like Mandrake who drops support for older CPUs. But it isn't nice for the case where a user wants support for their specific processor and no other. I have a P-II, why include code that only works on K7 or P-III? The embedded people, I think, would find such a change useful too. The only problem with an alpha-like configuration is that Mandrake cannot select a minimum CPU level of support anymore... I guess that could be solved by an "advanced" sub-menu, similar to that which is found in drivers/video/Config.in, which allows fine-grained Y/N selections of CPU support. -- Jeff Garzik | Sam: "Mind if I drive?" Building 1024 | Max: "Not if you don't mind me clawing at the dash MandrakeSoft | and shrieking like a cheerleader." - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/