someone (someone@somewhere.com) on 11/19/10 wrote:
>
>Streaming vs non-streaming data is mostly a function
>of program structure and associated alogorithms, rather
>than specific values of data involved from run to run.

The thing is, streaming is pretty easy to detect in
hardware, and you really do want to do it at that point.
Doing hardware prefetching - which you want to do
regardless - you can also (if you decide you want to),
use that streaming information as a cache replacement
hint.

The one thing that Itanium designers _never_ understood,
and which is a fundamental failing of the whole damn
architecture, is the whole notion of "hardware and software
together".

The whole Itanium approach is flawed. It is based on "we
do everything in software, and make the hardware as simple
and stupid as possible".

It's a design decision by incompetent people, for
incompetent people. It's a design decision that says "our
hardware engineers are morons and can never add anything
useful to the decisions, so let's rely on our software
people who are heroes of intelligence and might".

Now, I do understand that everybody idolizes us software
people. Yes, we really are better, smarter, and more
good-looking than hardware engineers. Life is not fair,
and the adoration of the masses can be unbearable at times.
When I go to the mall, I'm covered in womens underwear in
minutes - it's just embarrassing.

So yes, we're the Tom Jones of the engineering world.

So I can see how architecture designers could get some
complexes. I understand. But even if you're a total failure
in life, and you got your degree in EE rather than CompSci,
stand up for yourself, man!

Repeat after me: "Yes, I too can make a difference! I'm
not just a useless lump of meat! I can design hardware that
is wondrous and that I don't need to be ashamed of! I can
help those beautiful software people run their code better!
My life has meaning!"

Doesn't that feel good? Now, look down at your keyboard,
and look back at me. Look down. Look back. You may never
be as beautiful and smart as a software engineer, but with
Old Spice, you can at least smell like one.

Hardware and software should work together. And that does
not mean that hardware should just lay there like
a dead fish, while software does all the work. It should
be actively participating in the action, getting all
excited about its own body and about its own capabilities.

Comprende?

If you didn't get the point, Itanium sucks. It sucks
exactly because it has all those idiotic features
that are all about software controlling it. It sucks
because the design is fundamentally broken. It's broken
exactly because it thinks that "software knows best".

Someone, here's something you need to learn: "Hardware that
can't stand up for itself is not worth standing up for!".

So stop standing up for failure. Tell any Itanium designers
you know to grow a pair, and stand up for themselves, and
say "Yes we can do it on our own. We don't need to have our
diapers changed by the software people. We can go potty on
our own, and we are strong!"

Tell them to grow the f*ck up.

Linus