It is greatly improved. It is still not as smooth as the standard 2.4
scheduler, but I'd characterise it as "a bit jerky" rather than "makes
me want to punch a hole in the monitor".
The difference is unlikely to be noticed by many. (But it should be
_better_ than stock 2.4)
> ...
> > 2) The interactivity estimator makes inappropriate decisions.
> >
> > Test case:
> >
> > start a kernel compile as above
> > grab an xterm and waggle it about a lot.
> >
> > The amount of waggling depends on the video hardware (I think). One
> > of my machines (nVidia NV15) needs a huge amount of vigorous waggling.
> > Another machine (voodoo III) just needs a little waggle.
> >
> > When you've waggled enough, the scheduler decides that the X server
> > is a `batch' process and schedules it alongside the background
> > compilation. Everything goes silly. The mouse cursor sticks stationary
> > for 0.5-1.0 seconds, then takes great leaps across the screen. Unusable.
> > You have to stop using the machine for five seconds or so, wait for the
> > X server to flip back into `interactive' mode.
> >
> > This also affects netscape 4.x mailnews. Start the kernel compile,
> > then select a new (large) folder. Netscape will consume maybe one
> > second CPU doing the initial processing on that folder, which is
> > enough for the system to decide it's a "batch" process. The user
> > interface seizes up and you have to wait five seconds for it to be
> > treated as an "interactive" process again before you can do anything.
> >
> > It also affects gdb. Start a kernel compile, then run `gdb vmlinux'.
> > The initial processing which gdb does on the executable is enough for it
> > to be treated as a batch process and the subsequent interactive session
> > is comatose for several seconds. Same deal.
> >
> > This one needs fixing in 2.5. Please. It's very irritating.
>
> can you reproduce with my tree?
Again, hugely improved over normal O(1) behaviour, but not as responsive
as the stock 2.4 scheduler.
With a `make -j1' running:
- Normal O(1) behaviour in StarOffice 5.2 is 15-30 second delays between
actions.
- With 2.4.20aa1, typing into a text document typically had a 2-3 character
delay.
- With the standard 2.4 scheduler the delay is zero characters.
So StarOffice 5.2 is still a bit uncomfortable to use with 2.4.20aa1.
-
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