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Linux 2.2.17 Released
Paul Weaver was among the hoardes to note that Linux 2.2.17 has been officialy released at the usual places. So take some time out from trying to compile 2.4 test releases and update the boxes that need stable kernels.
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That's an awfully serious accusation to be levelling against the likes of Alan. Please list reliable sources, 'cuz this is the story of the year if you can prove it.
Given that Redhat funded development of the TUX webserver, which requires 2.4 for it's fundamental operation, I'm not gonna put much stock in it though...
I'd like to start this by saying that I am NOT speaking for Red Hat in this, but for myself.
/from it/ to the 2.2.x series, so that it doesn't fall too far behind.
I started working at Red Hat about 2 months ago, and I can say that since I have been here, I've been continually impressed by the extent to which everyone works to make sure everything works. No one EVER talks about steering development 'backwards', as its damn hard enough keeping it going forwards.
Now, the 2.4.0 kernel is a BIG deal, it is a big change, and it will save the world, clean your laundry, get you dates, clear up your acne, etc, etc. But it is not finnished. Period. There is more to do on it, and while work continues on it, some code is backported
But should Red Hat wait until 2.4? How about KDE 2.0, or Gnome 2.0, or Gimp 2.0, or Jargon 3.0? How long do you wait, for what? They can't, they have to make sure that the software that they put the stamp on is as uptodate as it reasonably can be, while simultaneously being as stable, and as compatible.
And how can you seriously believe that Red Hat is purposely steering development to slow the advent of the 2.4 kernel? Did you see the Slashdot article about Tux? That is a 2.4 kernel based webserver, something that is VERY cool, and it'd be great for Red Hat if it worked out of the box. But it doesn't, cause 2.4 is not finnished.
If you really have issues with the speed of the development cycle of 2.4, help the kernel developers.
-- Crutcher --
#include <disclaimer.h>
-- Crutcher --
#include <disclaimer.h>
The reason new features are being added to the stable series is largely to keep the 2.2.x kernels able to support recently improved features (new and updated hardware drivers, tuned algorithms, etc). If it weren't for this, then we'd be stuck with a kernel that required massive patching to support any newer hardware or improved features. Additionally, since the changes are relatively not very intrusive, and are pretty thoroughly tested in the -dev tree, the people running production boxes on 2.2.x kernels can be confident that the kernel is still solid, even with the new features.
;)
The reason 2.x.x *appears* to be incrementing more rapidly than 2.4.x in some areas is because all the cool new stuff (RAID code, USB, PCMCIA, etc ad infinitum...) has been in development (2.3.x) for a long time, and has been pretty thoroughly wrung out. In other words, all the initial "hard work" has largely been done. It's finally been deemed stable in the 2.4 series, and is now being backported for the benefit of those less adventurous souls (like me) who prefer a well-used, known-good kernel (2.2.x) on production systems, but want the benefit of some new features. The same thing happened with backports of 2.2 features into the 2.0.37+ kernels, even after 2.2 was released. Instead of a massive overhaul, with an entirely new kernel architecture to deal with, you get the shiny new stuff (new hardware support, bugfixes, and tuneups) and still get to stay with the tried-and-true kernel you're used to using.
That's likely why RedHat is developing their next distro to 2.2.x, *not* 2.4. After all, 2.4 is still considered a moving target at this point, and is extremely difficult to develop to (Alan Cox mentioned this in a recent diary entry). If you've got an entire distro to worry about, best to keep it with the currently stable and well-known 2.2 kernel, instead of a constantly-changing 2.4-test kernel.
Besides, if you really want to be cutting edge, go get slackware or rabbid squirrel and build your own distro with whatever software versions you want. This is Free software, after all -- if you've got an itch, scratch it!
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I say Rob should pull out a week's worth of Classic Slashdot, from a couple years ago, and post it somewhere. We could then compare the content of THEN with the content of NOW.
/. for a few years now, and I prefer to read a new kernel announcement, where I can pickup tidbits like "it screwed my ext2" or "won't boot on my 8-way Celery bawx" than read about how Bill Gates just hired Larry Ellison to clean his indoor pool!
I've been reading
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