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Linux 2.3.46 Released Unto the World
jschauma writes "I just saw on freshmeat that Linux 2.3.46 is out - thought I'd share the news. Freshmeat also has the changelog online. " One step closer to 2.4.
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If only because a huge number of naive Linux users out there read slashdot. Apparently, they get confused into thinking that Linux isn't stable because the kernel isn't stable because they're using a development kernel. Aside from arguing the merits of this being posted on slashdot. I do think that it should at least be mentioned that it's a development kernel and so is not as stable as a stable kernel.
Chris Hagar
"The price of freedom is eternal vigilance." - Thomas Jefferson
devfs is in.
/dev/, 99% of which you don't use (ya sure, I have 20 ide partitions. And 5 sound cards. And 9 SCSI CD-ROM drives...), you mount /dev as devfs, and only see the devices you have. Simplifies life a great deal. More info at the devfs overview. Devfs has existed as a patch for a good time now but Linus had issues with it.
devfs = Device File System. Instead of makedev and having dozens and dozens of device files in
Congratulations to Richard Gooch on his efforts over all this time and his tireless dedication to getting in into the kernel. Hats off to you.
Forgot to add that it's listed as experimental, so you won't see it in the options if you don't have experimental turned on.
Normally, I agree that announcing the latest development kernel on Slashdot is a little silly - after all, if you're running the devel kernels, you know where to look for them.
However, this kernel release IS newsworthy. Why? Well, take a look at this posting to the linux-kernel mailing list:
[PATCH] devfs v158 available
If you can't be bothered to follow the link, here's the important sentence from that posting: This is the patch that was sent to Linus and included in 2.3.46-pre5. That's right boys and girls, DevFS is now part of the standard Linux kernel. This is wonderful news, and amazingly hasn't yet sparked off any great flamewars on the mailing list (those of you that read the list will know that mentioning DevFS on it has seemed akin to posting about atheism on an evangenical Christian newsgroup). For more information about DevFS, have a look at Richard Gooch's kernal patch page.
I'm still amazed that this has happened.
-- Help Digitise the Public Domain at DP.
Did I miss something? Did Microsoft cancel the W2K launch at the last moment? Did the spooks cover it up? No, everybody else is reporting the news except /.
/. Congratulations. Long live media bias!
/.
If the W2K launch isn't "News for Nerds", then I'm afraid I don't know what is. A Linux kernel update is "News for Nerds", but the most anticipated OS release in the past two years isn't?
Today is a new low for
(And don't flame me with "but this is a Linux news site" - the site specifically says "News for Nerds", not "News for Linux Nerds".)
Open soure. Closed minds. We are
-- "I believe the human being and the fish can coexist peacefully." - George W. Bush, 29 September 2000
This is a rant, but this is not a troll, flamebait, nor is it off-topic. So read with open ears.
I am sick of seeing linux development kernel upgrades posted on Slashdot. I think if Slashdot is going to get in the business of announcing minor software updates, they should announce all software updates. I recognize the need for Slashdot to mention major software upgrades, such as GNOME hitting the 1.0 plateau or KDE hitting the 2.0 plateau, but announcing every single minor development kernel revision is ridiculous. That's why we have places like Freshmeat, and that's why we have things like Freshmeat slashboxes. It's that simple.
But, I can understand how this might be of some value to people who can't figure out how useful Freshmeat is or even know it exists or just plain don't like it. I like people to be constructive, not destructive, so I propose that Rob et al develop a new Slashdot topic like 'kernel-development-update' and make it real specific to development kernel announcements. I like reading about major proposals to the kernel, so that shouldn't be in there, and I certainly don't want to filter out all Linux related news, so Linux development kernel updates shouldn't be under that heading. Give it a cute kernel icon, like a corn kernel or something. It's just inane to make these announcements every week or so for something that is in development. Yes, it's the road to 2.4, but let's wait until we get a 2.4pre kernel or something and the end is in sight. With Linux development kernels having a history of getting into the hundreds in minor version numbers, we don't need these. Freshmeat's good enough.
And for those who are going to say that the universe doesn't revolve around me (and I'm sure you're out there), Stephen Hawking postulated that the universe could be expanding from any point, and so right now, I'm designating that point as me. Call it the Hrunting Corollary.
*wheeze wheeze*
Just edit drivers/block/ll_rw_blk.c, and change line 237.
back_merges_fn should read back_merge_fn (IE, remove the 's')
This has been posted to linux-kernel as the fix, and it works for me.
That way, if you really care, you can just go into preferences and turn on the box, so you can see the latest, greatest kernel version.
I do what the voices on my console tell me to do.
...we're all anxiously awaiting 2.4. Every devel kernel release is getting us closer. It's like a countdown. And there's often something about the release that merits discussion (like devfs in this release). Slashdot is really a discussion forum, it's not a news forum.
- Have a picture
Have a sense of perspective.
/dev. Kernel developers know that one of the *real* wins with devfs is that we can have more than 256 major devices and 256 minor devices. That will make it *much* easier to provide fine-grained support to SCSI, USB, and similar devices, to implement "volume" managers where you associate each removable media object with a unique "minor device number," etc.
We do. You're the one with things out of balance.
Is this the first day we could acquire W2K? No, it's been released to OEMs for weeks.
Is this the first day we could get a peek at W2K? No, release candidates have been out for many months. I'm tempted to say years.
Does Win2K redefine the fundamental paradigms used by software? Nope, it's a incremental change from NT4, but it doesn't have true innovations like GUIs or a NOS, and it doesn't even have false invocations like doing everything through the fully integrated (but still available as a separate product in stores!) web browser.
On the other hand, the inclusion of devfs *will* go a long way to heading off a critical problem. Users notice that devfs eliminates the need to have thousands of files in
The fact that I can get Win2K "in a box" instead of "OEM'd" today does not really change my life. If I really needed Win2K, I would already have it.
The fact that Linux now includes devfs *does* significantly change my life because some very cool kernel modules and applications are now much easier to write without requiring the end user know how to apply a kernel patch.
For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong. -- H L Mencken
Did I miss something? Did Microsoft cancel the W2K launch at the last moment? Did the spooks cover it up? No, everybody else is reporting the news except /.
Huh? Microshaft? Who are they? W2K? Is that anything like Y2K? I'm confused!
:)
*ducking*
My journal has hot