Linus Torvalds Now Using a 64-bit Arm Laptop - Ditches x86 While on the Road

Linus Torvalds, the creator of the Linux operating system, has ditched x86 for road trips and instead is using a MacBook with Apple Silicon, but not running MacOS, but running Linux!



#garyexplains

[Tim_Small]

The ARM Linux port was started in 1994, when Linux only ran on i386 (before MIPS, Alpha etc. support). The original port was a single-handed effort by Russell King in his spare time while he was an undergraduate at Southampton University, and first booted on his Acorn Archimedes A5000. I think the first available ARM release was based on Linux 1.1.59 (from Oct 1994), and was released during 1995. A few years previously Russell has been in my secondary school computer club, where he neatly out-coded me and everyone else I knew by a mile. More details can be found at "The History of ARM Linux".

[shaurz]

Despite being a completely closed platform, ironically Apple M-series chips will probably end up being the best supported hardware on Linux compared to other ARM SoCs.

[DavidAlsh]

I love my M1 MacBook and I love Linux. I can't wait for Linux to have full GPU acceleration on Apple hardware, it'll become my daily driver. I wonder if Linus using Asahi will in any way add momentum to the Linux on Apple Silicon initiative - perhaps drawing interest (and assistance in the project) from Apple. Probably not, but I need hope, haha.

I couldn't imagine a better portable environment to develop on. Crazy long battery life, unreal CPU performance, incredible screen, best track pad in the industry _and_ full fat Linux. Running containers natively and having access to the Vulkan API.

[tubegor]

It was no coincidence that ARM processors were installed in mobile phones and Ipads and so on.
The reason is simply low power consumption and limited battery capacity. I've been using the Paspberry pi 4 as a desktop PC for exactly 3 years. Power consumption 3W idle 5W full load at 2Ghz clocking with oversized passive cooling at 35°C. The future belongs to ARM processors with Linux operating system. This is not only efficient but also environmentally friendly. This would not be possible without the brilliant Linus Benedict Torvalds.

[mplovecraft]

I've owned a MBA M1 for 1, 5 years now and while I certainly have my issues with Apple, it's an incredibly impressive laptop and Rosetta works very well. Can't wait for Asahi to be developed enough for me to switch!

[PakoSt]

There are a few reasons why Asahi linux fits the needs for this type of development - it's not just working but it is *very* competitive for compile times. Another important piece would be the intended use case - Asahi isn't there yet for what "the average consumer" would look for yet such as multimedia. This will take some time.

I adore my Pinebook Pro for basic tasks and I do look forward to a more capable SoC plugged into it (a few other h-w improvements would be welcomed especially around power delivery). And even when that moment comes to be a reality, I would imagine the M1 SoC to still be more capable in raw computational performance.

With that said - more affordable and more capable ARM SoC are on the horizon. Being excited as of what rk3558 SBCs can bring to the table for enabling the infrastructure is an understatement. Distro maintainers and community members will gain a sizeable upgrade without resorting to devices that are either very expensive + specialized (Honeycomb?) or forced into Apple silicon exclusively (the performance comes with quite a few strings attached - especially for long term support).

Either way, aarch64 landscape outlook looks very good compared to just 3 years ago. The options are multiplying and reaching the hands of users and developers alike 😁

Note:
Startup on arm devices is still *very* messy unfortunately (cough, uboot, cough). Projects like tow-boot are amazing at removing some of the initial hurdles preventing interested community members at even getting a distro started up on the board of their choice.

[SunsetNova]

Can't wait for Asahi Linux to be fully implemented on Apple silicon. Apple silicon is levels better than Intel and AMD offering especially with regards to performance efficiency which is essential for laptops

[newfontherock]

As you pointed out, Apple has been doing this for years. They have fine tuned it from all the way back to the A4 chip, iPhone 5, I believe. We are now up to M1, which is essentially an A14x with a bit more functionality. It could take awhile for others to catch up.

I love my Mac for Web Development, as well as Android Studio and Xcode. Homebrew works quite well for package management. For my use case, MacOS provides for all my dev needs. YMMV

[peterfrisch]

Around the end of 2010 I came to the conclusion that ARM was the future and that x86 had run it's course.
As you have stated ( pleaded) we need ARM CPUs that we can buy the same as we buy AMD or Intel ones. Along with the motherboards for them, just as there are for AMD and Intel. I assume that what we are asking for is ARM hardware parity with x86.

[rml]

I have an M1 MacBook Air and I have to say that it’s my favorite system. I’m waiting for Asahi to become fully stable and then I will need to determine the space trade off as far as getting it ready. I have not partitioned or dual booted in a very long time and that’s the one thing that makes me very nervous, especially because of the rather untraditional installation one will have to go through for this. My hope is that eventually we can do what we do with all other systems and boot from a USB and maybe even run in live mode before committing. I realize given Apple’s locked down nature, that such a wish may be our in the sky, but hey, one can dream right? I’m also looking forward to seeing Linux running on these pieces that are powered by the QUALCOMM snapdragon.

[Ben-rypy]

I'm not sure it's easy to make arm motherboards that will take "whatever graphics cards we want", but I guess you'd know more about this possibility than I would. It would be so odd buying a graphics card for an arm based pc. Wouldn't they more likely be APUs?

[ComplexAlpaca]

Lenovo x13s snapdragon laptop was realesed this year.

[danielfberquo]

I am a person who has dreamed of a commercial computer/notebook using ARM architecture for years. I see that the biggest problem is the lack of industry standardization. You find several development boards using ARM like RaspberryPI. However, it is necessary to standardize a type of SOCKET for the ARM processor and a standard motherboard configuration. Unlike the x86 market that only has two manufacturers, ARM processors have several. No one is going to invest, at this first moment, in a motherboard that forces them to be tied to a single manufacturer. A motherboard that supports several different models and manufacturers is the best solution.

[CommodoreFan]

My current main portable is a Nokia T20 Android tablet, so yes I would love to see more laptops around $500, or less with ARM CPU's with open firmware so we can install whatever Linux distro we want that has an ARM build. Same for desktop motherboards with good ARM chips, and expansion, it's been done before in the past with the Arcon Archimedes machines, and it can be done again.

[thBusStop]

Knowing Apple drops support of older hardware over time, it’d be nice to be able to confidently run Linux on the Apple silicon as a daily driver.

[MuhammadbinYusrat]

I just want a slim laptop with Snapdragon Elite X and Linux (with graphics etc everything running) and that's it. Really. It would be good enough for me for so many years.

[akhildamu]

As a LinuxMint user and a RedHat aspirant myself, my opinion is that,
for manufactures (not Apple) to make more affordable Arm based PCs and Linux machines, more people must start using Linux based OS. And to make Linux to Appeal to the masses, more professional useful Softwares must be developed or made compatible in Linux OS.

[tohur]

for arm to truly do well in the PC market we have to be able to build custom PCs of our own with ARM if they ever hope to compete with AMD and Intel.

[winsomehax]

Next up: we want RISC V laptops. Ones that can be verified from start to finish with a simple BIOS that can hand off to open source software. In case people hadn't realised yet (it can some as a shock) - the number of operating systems that sit UNDER linux/windows. I lost count of the total.. but here's some: the hypervisor, UEFI, SMM, Intel's management engine (ME) - all of these are large enough to be operating systems... and there are more still. You have NO idea how much software is running sneakily on your PC even if you think you are running Linux - it's encrypted, updated remotely... and all of it is being repurposed for 1) the manufacturer 2) the state three letter agencies. In others words: part of your machine is setup as an enclave ready for state snooping or tax, DRM etc. And all of it full of code that is rarely examined and full of security holes.

UEFI for example was a disaster - the BIOS boot process was a perfect example of something that needed to be as simple as possible. But Intel had its agenda and built UEFI - an operating system - which has been a security catastrophe.

In case anyone wonders where this originated, it was the late 90s. The tech giants had a meeting and announced that the next frontier in security was ensuring the machine is secure against its owner. From then on its been a building process with TPMs and encrypted paths everywhere (for DRM) finally culminating in Microsoft feeling brave enough to mandate a TPM (whcih they said they wouldn't do) in Windows 11. None of which you are in a position to understand, read or approve/disapprove. In short you don't own that machine you paid for.

Every Orwellian horror show from here on in is just a mystery encrypted software update away.

[KouroshFarrokhzad]

I would love to see an Arm setup where the RAM and GPU aren't completely "sealed" within the SoC as they are in Apple machines. From a "freedom" standpoint, Apple's design (beyond its excellent arm architecture) is extremely troubling to me because it places Apple Corporation in a stranglehold position vis-a-vis consumers who need a tiny bit more RAM or SSD space. The entire structure feels extremely anti-competitive - like a hardware "black box" on your lap, which is antithetical to Linux and downright ironic as far as the free software movement is concerned.