Linux enthusiasts see 10-second kernel compilation times on the horizon
It won’t be long until Linux enthusiasts will be able to complete a clean kernel build in under 10 seconds thanks to advances in PC hardware and the AI-assisted optimization of compilers.
In the near future, Linux enthusiasts will be able to complete a clean kernel build in under 10 seconds, according to Michael Larabel, the head of Phoronix. The "coffee window" for computer processing tasks is closing due to advancements in hardware and core counts, as well as optimizations from Linux MM developer Lorenzo Stoakes and the use of AI/LLMs.
A powerful EPYC workstation equipped with 2x AMD EPYC 9575F 64-core processors, 24 x 64GB DDR5-6400 memory modules, and Samsung PM1743 3.84TB PCIe Gen 5.0 NVMe SSD storage achieved a 15-second kernel build time. Previously, the same task took over 22 seconds on the same system. Even a modest processor experienced a significant reduction in compilation time thanks to the latest patches.
The Phoronix team tested the minimal default kernel compilation for x86-64 systems, which took 15 seconds on their highly potent test rig. When the 'allmodconfig' option was used, enabling thousands of drivers and subsystems, the compile time increased to 134 seconds. The team is now predicting that AMD (Zen 6) EPYC 9686F systems, equipped with MRDIMMs and PCIe Gen6 storage, will be the next milestone, as they push defconfig x86-64 Linux kernel compilation times under the 10-second mark.
Written by urgent.news from Tom's Hardware's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
