Linux Developers Jump Quickly On ACPI 5.1, Helps Out ARM

[techzilla]

Yes but it greatly beats the status qoe

I've been working with ARM boars for some years, and maintaining the lower level code is significantly more complicated than it is for x86.
With ARM we have no platform, something we all take for granted on x86. This means we can't...

1. Create a generic bootable USB image, like we do all the time now.

2. Initialize hardware in a generally accepted manner, and get a full grub with work equal to x86.

Can it be done without a platform? Yup, thats what we do now, and it hurts so bad it just cannot exist. Literally the lack of platform has ensured ARM would forever remain in the embedded sphere.

So is ACPI/UEFI the best platform? If i was in the business of choosing a cleaner one, and getting industry to go along with me? No it's bloated and yadda yadda, you know what parts suck I'm sure.

But is this ACPI/UEFI platform standard coming to ARM a bad thing? OMG no!!! Give me the problems of ACPI and even super bloated UEFI ANY DAY. Compared to the process of creating a linux system on x86, even on UEFI, ARM is practically hell. Linux on ARM is literally embedded development, every single time, for every single board. The only reason we ever had some good examples, is because one single board gets so popular we can share some work finally... like the samsung chromebook, or pandaboard.

[milkylainen]

ACPI is a broken standard.

ACPI was developed for x86 in mind from the beginning. It had no considerations for real abstraction models.
Although it could be adapted to other architectures/platforms it still remains utterly broken.
To have to majorly revise core structures to adapt to something purposely built as an abstraction layer is ridiculous.
The problem is that they did not think it through for other architectures some 15+ years ago.
I think the first revision had "support" for the Itanium platform but that was about it.

[Rovano]

ACPI

Am I supposed to know what ACPI is without googling it?

ACPI is one of the reasons why Microsoft has a majority market share. If manufacturers comply with standards, the world would be better. Then it turns out is so that Windows notebook with the battery lasts four hours as Linux 3 hours.

[KellyClowers]

Am I supposed to know what ACPI is without googling it?

Really? Shall we explain what IDE and SATA are? How about USB? Maybe BIOS? Jeez.

[asdfblah]

Why ACPI? isn't ACPI a complete mess? Who hasn't had a bug related to ACPI?

[Scimmia]

Am I supposed to know what ACPI is without googling it?

If you're interested enough to read this site, yeah, you should know what ACPI is without resorting to google.

[schmidtbag]

Am I supposed to know what ACPI is without googling it?

Unlike most abbreviated terms on this site, ACPI is a pretty common one. Not knowing it is kind of the same idea as not knowing what SCSI is - doesn't mean you are directly involved with it on a regular basis but most people in the computer field have heard of it and have a general idea of what it is.

[plonoma]

Speaking about ARM unification:

ARM 'Server Base System Architecture' (SBSA) specification

http://www.arm.com/about/newsroom/arm-ecosystem-collaborates-to-deliver-initial-server-platform-standard.php

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/01/arm-finally-defines-a-platform-as-it-sets-its-sights-on-the-server-room/

http://blogs.citrix.com/2014/01/31/citrix-collaboration-with-arm-holdings-unifying-arm-v8a-64-bits-servers-architecture/

[kaprikawn]

Am I supposed to know what ACPI is without googling it?

[mlau]

i believe the sole reason acpi and uefi exist for arm/arm64 is windows. arm wants windows available on arm/arm64 as well, and
it'll be a freezing cold year in hell before ms is going to entangle the windows kernel from all the bios/acpi crap.