From: "Matthias Wächter" <matthias@...>
Date: 2011-10-29T03:42:04+09:00
Subject: Re: Ruby and threading

On 28.10.2011 19:40, Steve Klabnik wrote:
> The idea is that if you wrote thread-safe code, the GIL could be
> removed, and then Ruby would _not_ be limited to running on one core.

The GIL discussion is very similar to the memory ordering property of processors 
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_ordering] and the related problem of gaining speed in CPU 
design by making it more Alpha-ish vs. keeping it x86-ish but with less hassle on the software 
front. BTW, Ruby still uses mostly volatile’s which are not inherently thread safe on all processors 
instead of proper memory barriers.

– Matthias