Zack's Kernel News
Zack's Kernel News
Chronicler Zack Brown reports on want vs. need, and hiding system resources ... from the system.
Want vs. Need
Ryan Houdek wanted to enhance compatibility layers in Linux. A compatibility layer is used when you have a piece of software that was compiled to run on a different system, and you want it to run on yours. Maybe the software expects a certain system file to exist, or certain opcodes at the CPU level, or certain system calls. A compatibility layer will provide those things so the software can run. A lot of cloud service companies like Google and Amazon use Linux's compatibility layers to make one piece of hardware look like a whole bunch of other pieces of hardware.
So compatibility layers are not new in Linux, but Ryan wanted to run old software compiled for 32-bit CPUs on 64-bit systems and offered up a general justification for compatibility layers. One of his main points was that "Not all software is open source or easy to convert to 64-bit," and that a lot of gaming software fell into this category.
Ryan pointed to various attempts in the Linux world to work around these problems, such as Qemu, a generic CPU emulator. But the problem with such attempts, he said, was not emulating the CPU, it was emulating various system resources such as memory handling and input/output controls.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
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
-
USB4 Maintainer Leaves Intel
Michael Jamet, one of the primary maintainers of USB4 and Thunderbolt drivers, has left Intel, leaving a gaping hole for the Linux community to deal with.
-
Budgie 10.9.3 Now Available
The latest version of this elegant and configurable Linux desktop aligns with changes in Gnome 49.
-
KDE Linux Alpha Available for Daring Users
It's official, KDE Linux has arrived, but it's not quite ready for prime time.
-
AMD Initiates Graphics Driver Updates for Linux Kernel 6.18
This new AMD update focuses on power management, display handling, and hardware support for Radeon GPUs.
-
AerynOS Alpha Release Available
With a choice of several desktop environments, AerynOS 2025.08 is almost ready to be your next operating system.
-
AUR Repository Still Under DDoS Attack
Arch User Repository continues to be under a DDoS attack that has been going on for more than two weeks.
-
RingReaper Malware Poses Danger to Linux Systems
A new kind of malware exploits modern Linux kernels for I/O operations.
-
Happy Birthday, Linux
On August 25, Linux officially turns 34.
-
VirtualBox 7.2 Has Arrived
With early support for Linux kernel 6.17 and other new additions, VirtualBox 7.2 is a must-update for users.
-
Linux Mint 22.2 Beta Available for Testing
Some interesting new additions and improvements are coming to Linux Mint. Check out the Linux Mint 22.2 Beta to give it a test run.