Hector Martin Resigns From The Asahi Linux Project
Last week Hector Martin resigned from upstream maintainership of the Apple Silicon code for the Linux kernel. At the time he was still going to contribute to the Asahi Linux project's downstream kernel but in a surprise move today, he has decided to resign as project leader of Asahi Linux...
https://www.phoronix.com/news/Hector-Martin-Resigns-Asahi
@phoronix
Nothing of value was lost, my stance on Asahi Linux remains the same: https://m0xEE.Net/gemlog/posts/2024-09-05-asahi-linux-is-pointless.gmi
It's a waste of effort that'd better be used elsewhere, nowadays we have plenty of hardware that's way more open than that of Apple, and hardware based on reverse-engineering effort would always remain far from perfect.
@m0xee @phoronix Most of my computers are Macs and none of them run macOS. They literally cannot run macOS unless I use an ancient version.
10+ years ago, I would run macOS as my primary OS and I would dual boot into Linux (mostly just to teach myself Linux). Linux was. . .not great. Things like trackpad support, going to sleep, etc. were just broken.
Thanks to the efforts of Linux developers who prioritized the Mac, these issues are now resolved and my computers continue to be useful.
@autolycus
Most of my hardware is also Apple hardware, you don't have to tell me what it is. Even 10 years ago this hardware was supported better than average PC hardware because it was the same commodity hardware based on Intel chipsets. And we have e.g. hardware video decoding support not because someone reverse-engineered it on their spare time, but because a qualified engineer on Intel's payroll *with access to the spec* have contributed it.
@phoronix
@autolycus
The MacBook Pro I'm typing this on has Broadcom wireless adapter that has an opensource reverse-engineered driver and a proprietary one from Broadcom and the former is not useable — it can associate with a wireless network, but it's not something I would use on a daily basis. It's a 2011 MacBook and reverse-engineered driver *NEVER* caught up, I'm speaking from experience here.
Should I explain why it would be worse in case with ARM-based Macs?
@phoronix
@autolycus
If you wan't Linux-compatible hardware that won't turn into landfill — support open hardware. In the late nineties and early 2000s we had to rely on reverse-engineered drivers because we didn't have a choice — not anymore, we have plethora of hardware designed to run Linux — buy that instead of giving your money to the company that makes hardware increasingly less open.
@phoronix
@autolycus
And if you think I'm making up a pure hypothetical case here, I'm not: I've seen a person here on Fedi asking why they should buy a more expensive MNT Reform and not an older, but still supported M1 Mac — this person was genuinely thinking that Asahi Linux would enable them to use this hardware well with Linux, a lot of people don't realise that they won't have support for external displays or microphone input — and a lot of people do want that.
@phoronix
@autolycus
So what happens next? The person buys this Mac, can't use it with Linux properly — but hey, shouldn't be a problem, there is macOS, right? So they switch back to that. But by Apple's standards this hardware is already pretty old — and in a few years they end up with hardware with an unsupported OS on their hands that also has half-assed Linux support — they can't use either so they buy new hardware, some would even buy new Apple hardware.
@phoronix
@autolycus
That is the problem with Asahi — not their reverse-engineering efforts, but creating this illusion, this promise that they have no obligation to deliver on, and incentivising people to buy Apple hardware instead of supporting nice people who make open hardware possible.
If anything, this means more e-waste, not less of it.
@phoronix
I don't think it makes sense to purchase Mac hardware right now with the hopes that Asahi will fulfill its promise. I'm just hoping that when those Mac users think their perfectly good hardware is old that the hardware can be sold and become useful.
I don't suspect it's common for someone to have a MNT and a MacBook as their two options.
Will Asahi reach its goals? I dunno, but I see it as a worthwhile effort, even if it's just a fun technical challenge.
@autolycus
In case with these Macs there would be no Intel engineer and no driver from original hardware maker!
It would always remain a best effort implementation from someone who might abandon the project sooner or later: people burn out, people can simply change hobbies — this isn't something new, this is happening all the time. They have no obligations to support your hardware.
People should stop fooling themselves into thinking that this works.
@phoronix