Linked by David Adams on Wed 7th Sep 2011 21:15 UTC, submitted by sjvn
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RedHat and Suse don't run baremetal either.
Linux can run on the mainframe, natively, baremetal. In the article, one comment says "IBM provides IFL which is a chip specifically for running Linux on the mainframe with or without zVM". Then we can see it graphically in
http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/resources/systems_z_os_linux_solution...
That image is from the page http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/z/os/linux/solutions/ifl.html, where you can search for the text "native Linux".
Ohh, I didn't know that, seems they do that since 2000.
A special chip ?
I guess that means a special CPU-microcode ?
Yep, just checked on Wikipedia it says:
"The specialty processors are all identical and IBM locks out certain functions based on what the processor is characterized as" ... "reduced cost"
Seems the special chips are optional, has stuff disabled so you can only use it for Linux but at a reduced cost.





Member since:
2007-09-22
RedHat and Suse don't run baremetal either.
But on System Z, as I understand it, most operating systems (must ?) use paravirtualization.
Which means special drivers for the special virtual devices which are available on system Z.