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Three-year Anniversary of Kernel Traffic
Eric Gibson writes: "Thought everybody might want to know, today is the three-year anniversary of kernel traffic. The site for those of us that want to like to keep up with the goings-on of the kernel mailing list, but can't afford to read 1500+ emails a day. ;-) Congratulations to the maintainer who has kept this site alive, through trial and tribulation."
The site says that, last week, there were a little over 2700 emails total...
- A.P.
"Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
I see comments like this one regularly, and I'm really not sure why. I'm a subscriber to the kernel mailing list, and rarely get over 100 emails a day (max 150), all of which get dumped into a kernel-traffic folder which is quite easy to browse through and delete, as well as keep one's self up-to-date on kernel developments. I would think the more people involved in Linux kernel development with _constructive_ bug reports the better things would be. Comments like this really aren't doing anything besides giving a false impression, and would certainly encourage anyone looking for some good reading material to sign up and set aside a mail folder for it.
Interested in open source engine management for your Subaru?
This site is so useful not only for those of us who can't follow the huge volume of email, but also for people who either got into the game late or only read sporadically. It's sort of like jumping into a TV show in the 8th season and having a wonderful reference to give you background on the first 7. Thanks so much to everyone at kernel traffic!
I am no kernel hacker, just a lowly information technology worker who wants to keep up-to-date on the comings and goings with Linux development. Ok, I admit it, I am just a bit of a gawker when it comes to free software development theory. I religiously read the abridged kernel traffic every Monday. That is good stuff (all nice and technical) to start the day off with. I recommend it to anyone who wants to stay hip and with it (and hey, you get to see the real Alan and real Linus every now and then).
Keep it up guys!
Kernel traffic is doing everybody who has limited bandwidth a favor. It increases awareness of Kernel issues, even to those who know they won't become active developers.
The original post was obviously hyperbole, but having subscribed to the list myself, I know how quickly lkml can eat up your disk quota if you aren't vigilant.
Zack Brown deserves props specifically for the bug reports you mentioned. If I found a kernel bug, I wouldn't have previously known how to report it, or whether it was already reported, without sifting through tons of mailing list archives.
I read kernel traffic weekly, and I feel like the few minutes I spend reading it really keeps me on top of what's going on.
Overall, people with a 56k modem cannot deal with lkml, and they shouldn't have to.
Grumble, Grumble
You're right.. At that point, wouldn't a newsgroup be more appropriate?
:/
On SunManagers i used to get about 100 a day on heavy days, and that was a LOT for me to handle. I ended up creating a new e-mail account specifically for mailing lists.. Between the SM list, Legato NotWorker, Veritas...
Just a side comment: Slashdot looks *SO MUCH BETTER* in this blue color. When will we get the option to theme slashot, like other weblog engines have?
The linux-kernel mailing list is available via nntp at fa.linux.kernel. If you have a news reader that does scoring (e.g. gnus it makes the traffic all that much more manageable.
dan.
When I first started getting interested in the kernel I subscribed to the mailing list and was immediately overwhelmed by the traffic. I soon found Kernel Traffic and unsubscribed from the mailing list and was happy.
The truth is, though, that while KT gives a good overview of some areas of the mailing list, it misses a lot. This is obvious, of course; cutting 100's of posts a day down to one moderate weekly summary is going to leave a lot of information. But to be honest, though I admire and appreciate Zach Brown's efforts, I wonder what criteria he uses for deciding what threads to cover. I sometimes feel he has left out some fairly important/interesting stuff while quoting huge gobs of somewhat trivial (imho) threads.
Anyone who is seriously interested in the kernel internals shouldn't really be relying on KT too much. Head over to kernelnewbies and start reading the real list. I recommend a good filternig system to help you separate out the chaff, though.
dan.