Torvalds: 'Linux is bloated'

The creator of the Linux kernel, Linus Torvalds, has made a somewhat startling comment. At the LinuxCon in Portland, Ore. early this week, Torvalds was quoted as admitting that "We're [Linux kernel] getting bloated and huge. Yes, it's a problem." He later added that "We are definitely not the streamlined, hyper-efficient kernel I envisioned when I started writing Linux."

Indeed, an internal Intel study found that the performance of Linux has dipped up to 12 percent over the last 10 releases. When quizzed if he found this bloat was "acceptable" though, Torvalds demurred, disagreeing but adding that the addition of new features also meant that this was "unavoidable." 

Then again, the Linux kernel is powering more computing devices and appliances than ever. It might not be obvious to the uninitiated, but it has been showing up in device servers, dedicated hardware such as Wi-Fi routers and print servers, thin client hardware for some time now. If anything, the pace seems to have accelerated.

In fact, in the past I have worked in a manufacturing environment where one of the key machines ran off a server box running a modified real-time Linux kernel. I'll talk more about it in today's commentary.

For more on this story:
- check out this article at CNET News
- check out this article at The Register

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