BFS Scheduler For Linux

BFS (BrainFuck Scheduler) is an open source patch for the Linux kernel, engineered to make computers with lower specs run better on certain conditions, be forward looking only, and not scale to massive hardware.

BFS is a desktop-oriented scheduler, that offers excellent interactivity, thanks to its extremely low latencies, with good priority distribution, rigid fairness, as well as extreme scalability within normal load levels.

The scheduler offers excellent latency and throughput for machines with one or multiple CPUs (Central Processing Units a.k.a. processors) on both desktop and server hardware. However, even if the system supports multicore processors, BFS is not recommended for 4096 CPUs.

It features SCHED_ISO and SCHED_IDLEPRIO scheduling policies, which are completely optional and do not impact performance. The BFS Scheduler also includes solid sub-tick accounting of tasks, as well as configurable SMT-nice support for supporting scheduling policy across hyperthread and for improved nice levels.

The easy way to apply the BFS patch on your Linux kernel is to open your graphical or command-line package manager and search for a BFS Scheduler binary package in the official software repositories of your distribution.

To manually apply the BFS patch, first download it from Softpedia using the dedicated download section above, save the .patch file on your Home directory. Then, download the Linux kernel package that corresponds to the downloaded version of the patch. Save it on your Home directory and unpack it.

Copy the patch into the folder of the extracted Linux kernel archive file. Carefully read the instruction provided at https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/applying-patches.txt on how to apply the patch. Then, recompile the kernel and install it, overwriting your existing kernel.