I wouldn't think just the rt stuff would make a difference for normal desktop stuff since processes have to opt in to realtime scheduling (and the processes that don't can then be pushed aside to meet deadlines for the RT processes). But, maybe there are other scheduler changes present in the patch set.
I just use whatever RT features are shipping with current Fedora, and it works well enough for me. I don't miss patching a kernel every couple of weeks as was required back in the bad old days of doing audio on Linux. (Though CCRMA made it easier with their package repository, so it hasn't really required a completely DIY process for many years.)
>I wouldn't think just the rt stuff would make a difference for normal desktop stuff since processes have to opt in to realtime scheduling (and the processes that don't can then be pushed aside to meet deadlines for the RT processes).
The same sort of opt-in as in mainline. SCHED_FIFO or SCHED_RR. Yes, it makes a difference even without opting in.
I get spikes beyond a ms within minutes on mainline, on all my hardware.
In practice, without even setting SCHED_FIFO or SCHED_RR, I can play sfc(snes) games on higan on linux-rt. This is not possible on mainline, not even with SCHED_FIFO, as even with higher audio buffer sizes, it cuts constantly. Same with audio work with jackd and low latency buffer sizes.
>I just use whatever RT features are shipping with current Fedora, and it works well enough for me.
No such luck for me, and I've even tried ck's patchset and such. It barely provides any improvement. Yet linux-rt is radically better.
And, while unrelated, even the usual disk i/o stalls that plague Linux (on any hardware, using any common distro standard kernel) haven't happened at all to me on linux-rt. It's as if using an entirely different OS. It feels responsive.
>I don't miss patching a kernel every couple of weeks as was required back in the bad old days of doing audio on Linux. (Though CCRMA made it easier with their package repository, so it hasn't really required a completely DIY process for many years.)
Me neither, as AUR makes linux-rt very convenient.
I just use whatever RT features are shipping with current Fedora, and it works well enough for me. I don't miss patching a kernel every couple of weeks as was required back in the bad old days of doing audio on Linux. (Though CCRMA made it easier with their package repository, so it hasn't really required a completely DIY process for many years.)