Another developer has dropped out of Asahi Linux, the project to get Linux up and running on Apple silicon.
On Tuesday, a developer going by "Asahi Lina" announced she would be pausing work on Apple GPU drivers indefinitely. Asahi Lina posted on Bluesky: "I no longer feel safe working on Linux GPU drivers or the Linux graphics ecosystem."
The Asahi Linux project added the developer to the "Past major contributors" list and described Lina as a "GPU kernel sourceress."
"Lina joined the team to reverse engineer the M1 GPU kernel interface, and found herself writing the world’s first Rust Linux GPU kernel driver. Outside of GPUs, she sometimes hacks on open source VTuber tooling and infrastructure."
A VTuber is an online entertainer who uses a virtual avatar instead of a webcam to present on video streaming platforms. It's an effective way to conceal one's identity.
Lina's departure follows that of Hector Martin, Asahi Linux project lead, who resigned in February, citing developer burnout, demanding users, and Linus Torvalds's handling of the integration of Rust code into the open source kernel.
The departure will cause headaches for Linux graphics support on Apple Silicon. Alongside Alyssa Rosenzweig, Asahi Lina had been one of the most prominent developers working on the Apple Linux GPU graphics stack.
When Martin resigned from the project, a list of seven contributors was compiled to manage the project going forward. Asahi Lina was not on that list.
Asahi Linux aims to port Linux to Apple Silicon Macs. It has made solid progress over the years and in December 2024 pushed out Fedora Asahi Remix 41, which, in the experience of this Mac Mini M1 user, worked admirably well. Considering it was only 2022 when the first Asahi Linux Alpha release turned up, work has been rapid, and the installation process is now far less daunting.
Despite the changes within the Asahi Linux project, Fedora Asahi Remix 42 Beta was announced this week, with the non-beta version due in approximately a month, alongside the overall Fedora Linux 42 release.
One notable change for Apple Silicon users will be the integration of FEX in Fedora Linux. This should make the running of x86 and x86-64 binaries via emulation easier. ®