RELEASE BLOCKER: Linux doesn't follow x86/x86-64 ABI wrt direction flag

[Robert Dewar]

H. Peter Anvin wrote:
> Robert Dewar wrote:
>> H.J. Lu wrote:
>>
>>> So that is the bug in the Linux kernel. Since fixing kernel is much 
>>> easier
>>> than providing a workaround in compilers, I think kernel should be fixed
>>> and no need for icc/gcc fix.
>> Fixing a bug in the Linux kernel is not "much easier". You are taking
>> a purely engineering viewpoint, but life is not like that. There are
>> lots of copies of Linux kernels around and in use. The issue is not
>> fixing the kernel per se, it is propagating that change to all
>> Linux kernels in use -- THAT'S another matter entirely, and is
>> far far more difficult than making sure that a kernel fix is
>> qualified and widely proopagated.
>>
> 
> Not really, it's just a matter of time.  Typical distro cycles are on 
> the order of 3 years.
> 
> 	-hpa

again, in the real world, there are MANY projects that are nothing
like this interactive when it comes to moving to new versions of
operating systems.