The Growing Number Of AI Accelerator Drivers Reignites Linux Kernel Driver Debate

[phoronix]

Phoronix: The Growing Number Of AI Accelerator Drivers Reignites Linux Kernel Driver Debate

While we are sure to see only more AI accelerator drivers introduced to the Linux kernel over the coming years, the open-source driver situation for the Linux kernel is increasingly becoming a fragmented mess already and disagreements among kernel developers continue to be reignited over the mainlining process and the handling of these drivers...

https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Linux-AI-Driver-Fragment-Mess

[skeevy420]

Feel free to rename to drivers/xpu or think G as in General, not Graphisc.

Or maybe create your own drivers/xpu or drivers/ai or /gpgpu or /whatevs and don't muck up drivers/gpu with APIs and whatnot that y'all can't agree upon.

Don't know about y'all, but G as in General (Purpose), to me, describes what a CPU does if we're gonna start rocking the term General Processing Unit.

I also feel like that's a bit misleading. Trying to lump it all together under G for General . Even my untrained eye can see that. Graphics should be under graphics, AI under AI, and if they happen share crap then maybe create a gpgpu, general purpose gpu, or xpu section. Unless there's something I'm missing, and there probably is, that just seems like common sense.

Xpu also sounds like it could have been an API for an APU in another dimension. Unleash the power of the XPU API to unlock the full Graphics and Processing potential of your Ryzen APU.

I'm rained in today.

[MadeUpName]

Every thing in this space is a mess. The good news is if the Linux guys are experiencing this the Microsoft guys probably are as well and will want to help crack some skulls.

[ThoreauHD]

Sounds like Linus needs to get involved if this needs to be an overall schema change.

[elatllat]

maybe a eBPF micro kernel like solution for drivers...

[milkylainen]

Not every hardware with a fringe userbase needs to be included in the kernel.
Also, If the compiler isn't open source, then the accelerators should go the same way as the NVidia NVLink debacle.

[numacross]

Every thing in this space is a mess. The good news is if the Linux guys are experiencing this the Microsoft guys probably are as well and will want to help crack some skulls.

Why would it be similar to Windows drivers? Almost all of them are closed source and the only thing Microsoft requires is passing the WHQL test suite.

[HEL88]

Linux should take the pattern from Windows - stable API/ABI for divers not mess as is actual.

[Space Heater]

Linux should take the pattern from Windows - stable API/ABI for divers not mess as is actual.

Given one of the major goals is to have drivers be open and part of the upstream project, I'm not sure how a stable API would help with that. If anything it would remove a major incentive for hardware vendors to upstream their drivers in the first place.

[Aryma]

intel is making many driver for same thing

what is news about this ?