Unpacking Asahi Linux: Challenges and Solutions

Asahi Linux is a project that aims to port Linux to Apple Silicon chips, which use a custom ARM-based architecture.

The project is fundamentally important given the popularity of Apple Silicon Macs, and it’s also a heroic effort because Apple Silicon is an entirely undocumented platform.

Alyssa Rosenzweig is a well-known computer scientist who describes herself as a graphics developer passionate about software freedom. She is currently a contractor at Valve where she develops open source software to improve Linux gaming. Alyssa is also a contributor to Asahi Linux and works on reverse-engineering the Apple M1 GPU, among other contributions to the project. Alyssa joins the podcast to talk about reverse engineering hardware, Asahi Linux, new advances in gaming on Asahi, and more.

Sean’s been an academic, startup founder, and Googler. He has published works covering a wide range of topics from information visualization to quantum computing. Currently, Sean is Head of Marketing and Developer Relations at Skyflow and host of the podcast Partially Redacted, a podcast about privacy and security engineering. You can connect with Sean on Twitter @seanfalconer.