Summary of the week of October 12, 2020

cobito

Why the PS3 is so difficult to emulate

The PlayStation 3 has a Cell processor with a topology very different from a conventional PC. This CPU has a single core with a kind of HT, which is not that great. The problem comes when we talk about its 7 SPE (Synergistic Processing Elements) that allow you to do 8 SIMD operations each, so in the end, the CPU behaves like something in between a processor and a GPU.

How to migrate from Chrome to Firefox

In this entry they explain how to switch from Google's browser to Mozilla's, showing its advantages in terms of privacy.

OpenCL 3.0 available

The set of specifications for general-purpose processing on a GPU has been defined. With this step, it is likely that the Khronos group wants to move on from the disaster that was OpenCL 2.0.

Plasma 5.20 comes with juicy changes

Unlike previous releases, this version of the desktop environment comes with relevant visual changes such as the new look of the task manager or changes in the behavior of the KWin compositor.

Reconstructing the MOS 6502

Someone has made a physical implementation of this CPU from the 70s that powered gadgets like the Apple II, the Atari 2600, and the Commodore VIC 20 among others.

CUPS moves away from Apple

The most used print server in Linux is a product of Apple. Until now, the code had been under their control but after the company has introduced a single change so far this year, the rest of the team has decided to fork it. Now it is managed under something called Open Printing.