Linus Torvalds has come out strong against proposed support for RISC-V big endian capabilities within the Linux kernel.

In response to a mailing list comment whether RISC-V big endian “BE” patches being worked on would be able to make it for this current Linux kernel cycle. Linus Torvalds initially wrote:

"Oh Christ. Is somebody seriously working on BE support in 2025?

WHY?

Seriously, that sounds like just stupid. Is there some actual real reason for this, or is it more of the “RISC-V is used in academic design classes and so people just want to do endianness for academic reasons”?

Because I’d be more than happy to just draw a line in the sand and say “New endianness problems are somebody ELSES problem”, and tell people to stop being silly.

Let’s not complicate things for no good reason. And there is NO reason to add new endianness.

RISC-V is enough of a mess with the millions of silly configuration issues already. Don’t make it even worse.

Tell people to just talk to their therapists instead. That’s much more productive."

  • eleijeep@piefed.socialEnglish
    1·
    1 day ago

    It began upon the following Occasion. It is allowed on all Hands, that the primitive way of breaking Eggs, before we eat them, was upon the larger End: But his present Majesty’s Grand-father, while he was a Boy, going to eat an Egg, and breaking it according to the ancient Practice, happened to cut one of his Fingers. Whereupon the Emperor his Father published an Edict, commanding all his Subjects, upon great Penaltys, to break the smaller End of their Eggs. The People so highly resented this Law, that our Histories tell us there have been six Rebellions raised on that account; wherein one Emperor lost his Life, and another his Crown. These civil Commotions were constantly fomented by the Monarchs of Blefuscu; and when they were quelled, the Exiles always fled for Refuge to that Empire. It is computed, that eleven thousand Persons have, at several times, suffered Death, rather than submit to break their Eggs at the smaller End.