It looks like Trevor gained root access to Linus!

Good one!

I looked at the thread, and it looks like people's "memory" doesn't go back far enough. The original IBM PC (and later XT and AT), consumer computers do note, did use 9-bit bytes, with a simple parity bit for each 8-bit byte. Many PC clones, though, soon went for 8-bit RAM (no parity) to save costs.

ECC on a per byte basis requires 11 bits, but ECC on a much larger block basis is more efficient, with the typical later implementation being 72-bit DRAM providing ECC to 64-bit data.

For those who might not know, first level ECC allows single-bit-error detection and correction, and double-bit-error detection.

While I'm sure of the validity of this whole thread (and the claims of "why"), it was different in the beginning of the PC era (1980+), where Intel was pretty neutral and IBM applied their mainframe computing robustness principles.

BTW, I've always been a parity/ECC fan! Every desktop I ever owned had this protection. As for my current laptops ..... shame!

Hartmut W Sager - Tel +1-204-339-8331

On Wed, 6 Jan 2021 at 20:18, Alberto Abrao alberto@abrao.net wrote:

It looks like Trevor gained root access to Linus!

https://www.realworldtech.com/forum/?threadid=198497&curpostid=198647

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On 2021-01-06 Alberto Abrao wrote:

It looks like Trevor gained root access to Linus!

Hehe, that's a great read, thanks for that.

I'll believe Alberto's take over Gilbert's... :-)

I'm glad Linus put pen to paper (bits to the ether?) on this as it will make it a lot easier to convince Linux/FLOSS people to aim for ECC on their boxes. Most will agree that Linus is a Really Smart Guy(TM) and is generally pretty honest/open. He promotes ECC. That will be good enough for many people!

I agree 100% with everything Linus says, especially about the history, and Intel's dumb (intentional) moves. I've said it all for years. <feeling vindicated>

I'm also glad to see Linus continues his completely non-PC rant-style approach to communication. Wowza!

P.S. A lot of the other names on the thread aren't lightweights either.

Go AMD! Go ECC!

-- a 20-year-Intel-only guy now running a Ryzen 3900X that cost a third of a comparable Intel "workstation" with ECC and full x16 slot