History: ARM-based system-on-chips (SoC), which integrate control all of a device’s components and peripherals onto a single chip, are widely used today in mobile devices and on systems like Raspberry Pis. Due to a lack of standards, however, beyond the basic instruction processor set (the ARM part), each SoC is custom designed. While Linux is a popular choice for use on ARM SoC, this lack of consistency has meant many changes, customizations, and complications to the Linux kernel have been required to support all of these devices. While release 3.7 of the Linux kernel in 2012 began to bring some sanity to the situation by providing multi-platform ARM support, the ARM SoC world still causes Torvalds to vent every now and again.

Quotes: “Somebody needs to get a grip in the ARM community.” March 17, 2011

“I hope that ARM SoC hardware designers all die in some incredibly painful accident. So if you see any, send them my love, and possibly puncture the brake-lines on their car and put a little surprise in their coffee, ok?” September 9, 2013

“Gaah. Guys, this whole ARM thing is a f*cking pain in the ass.” March 17, 2011