Arm64 Is No Longer the Edge Case

For years, Arm64 was the platform people talked about as a future bet. It was useful in embedded systems, interesting in research, and easy to dismiss as “not the main thing.” That era is over. In a conversation between Dave Neary, Director of Developer Relations at Ampere Computing, and Greg Kroah-Hartman, Linux stable kernel maintainer and long-time kernel developer, the message is clear: Arm64 has become mainstream. It is no longer a special-case architecture. It is a first-class platform in Linux development, deployment, and maintenance.

Arm64 Has Become a First-Class Platform in Linux Development

Kroah-Hartman’s history with Linux goes back to the late 1990s, when his work in embedded systems led him into kernel development. He started by solving practical device problems, such as getting USB hardware working across many systems. That hands-on work turned into a career built around making Linux more reliable, more portable, and more useful across different hardware. One of the biggest changes he describes is how the Linux community matured. Early on, Linux developers often borrowed ideas from Unix, BSD, and Windows. The goal was to make things function. Over time, Linux moved from catching up to leading. Once that happened, the work became harder. Developers were no longer copying proven models; they were building new infrastructure, new interfaces, and new processes that had to work at scale.

That shift also explains why the stable kernel process matters so much. In 2005, Linux moved toward time-based releases and created a stable kernel series focused only on bug fixes. That decision made it possible to keep improving Linux without breaking user space or workloads. For developers, that means a reliable update path. For users, it means confidence that the system will continue to work. Arm64’s growth has made that stability even more important. Today, Arm64 is everywhere: phones, laptops, embedded systems, cloud servers, appliances, and high-performance computing. Linux now runs across all of it. That breadth has changed the ecosystem. When Arm64 breaks, the impact is no longer small. It affects real products and real users across the industry.

Upstream Development Improves Arm64 Linux Reliability and Maintainability

Kroah-Hartman also highlighted the role of upstream development. The Linux community has long encouraged vendors to work directly on the mainline kernel rather than maintain private patches. That approach saves time, reduces long-term cost, and improves quality. Some vendors learned this the hard way. Others embraced it early and benefited from tighter collaboration with the community.

Native Arm64 Testing Gives Kernel Developers Faster Feedback

A major practical change for Kroah-Hartman came from using a native Arm64 build server from Ampere. Before that, he mostly tested on x86 and only discovered Arm64 issues later. Now he can build and test Arm64 kernels locally before sending patches out for review. That means fewer mistakes, faster feedback, and less wasted time for everyone involved. The value of that setup is simple: it matches the reality of modern development. Arm64 is no longer a side project. It is part of the core infrastructure of Linux. Native Arm64 tools help developers build better software for the platforms where Linux actually runs.

For the Arm64 community, the lesson is direct. Mainstream status brings responsibility. It also brings leverage. The more Arm64 developers work upstream, test locally, and focus on reliability, the stronger the ecosystem becomes.

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