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Missing Kernel Patches

Posted by timothy on Monday February 25, 2002 @10:53PM from the communication-gaps dept.

BlueEar writes: "There is an interesting, short story posted on the Gentoo Linux site. It talks about kernel patches created by Linux distributors that while publically available never get submitted. It even gives an example of one 'no brainer' patch that has been sitting over a year, without being incorporated into the 2.4.x distribution. The article ends with an appeal to Linux community to keep those patches flowing to Marcelo."

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Re:Patches might narrow focus by pr0nbot · 2002-02-26 01:12 · Score: 0, Redundant

An example of why a particular patch might not be accepted, even though it seems like a "no-brainer", is because it would be for too specific a purpose. It might optimize the kernel for one particular application, at the expense of others. One of the best things about Linux is that it is general-purpose: suitable for everything from palmtops and embedded systems to servers and enterprise applications.

But couldn't applying certain kernel patches be made optional when configuring the kernel build? (I mean, in the same way that you can enable/disable SMP when making the source.)