Zack's Kernel News
Zack's Kernel News

Chronicler Zack Brown reports on "There Are Standards and Standards."
There Are Standards and Standards
One of the most bizarre areas of kernel development lies in the relationship between the kernel and the compiler. Since the creation of Linux at the start of the 1990s, there have been wars fought between the developers of these two projects. In one such case, Linus Torvalds refused to recognize any GNU C Compiler (GCC) version after a certain date, on the grounds that later versions produced bad machine code.
Relationships have become a lot less strained between the two projects since then. However, the question of mending fences does sometimes arise. And it's not always clear whether a problem in the Linux kernel would be best solved by changing the kernel source code or changing the compiler source code. Sometimes the best answer may be simply whatever avoids war.
Recently, Vincent Mailhol tried to simplify some kernel code, relying on the features of the C11 standard for the C programming language that Linux is written in.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
Plasma 6.3 Now Available
Plasma desktop v6.3 has a couple of pretty nifty tricks up its sleeve.
-
LibreOffice 25.2 Has Arrived
If you've been hoping for a release that offers more UI customizations, you're in for a treat.
-
TuxCare Has a Big AlmaLinux 9 Announcement in Store
TuxCare announced it has successfully completed a Security Technical Implementation Guide for AlmaLinux OS 9.
-
First Release Candidate for Linux Kernel 6.14 Now Available
Linus Torvalds has officially released the first release candidate for kernel 6.14 and it includes over 500,000 lines of modified code, making for a small release.
-
System76 Refreshes Meerkat Mini PC
If you're looking for a small form factor PC powered by Linux, System76 has exactly what you need in the Meerkat mini PC.
-
Gnome 48 Alpha Ready for Testing
The latest Gnome desktop alpha is now available with plenty of new features and improvements.
-
Wine 10 Includes Plenty to Excite Users
With its latest release, Wine has the usual crop of bug fixes and improvements, along with some exciting new features.
-
Linux Kernel 6.13 Offers Improvements for AMD/Apple Users
The latest Linux kernel is now available, and it includes plenty of improvements, especially for those who use AMD or Apple-based systems.
-
Gnome 48 Debuts New Audio Player
To date, the audio player found within the Gnome desktop has been meh at best, but with the upcoming release that all changes.
-
Plasma 6.3 Ready for Public Beta Testing
Plasma 6.3 will ship with KDE Gear 24.12.1 and KDE Frameworks 6.10, along with some new and exciting features.