Linux Kernel 2.4.21 Released

An anonymous reader writes "After > 6 months of waiting, 2.4.21 is here. Lots of cleanups, and a patch which gives a MAJOR boost to the 'feel' of the system under heavy disk IO, especially on IDE systems. As usual, available from your local kernel.org mirror or ftp.COUNTRYCODE.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.4/! Tidbit: 'Current bandwidth utilization 131.72 Mbit/s '." See the Changelog for new stuff.

Comments

Looks good..

[NightWulf]

Now to attempt to get it before it's slashdotted.

Just to get these out of the way...

[Drakonian]

Oh man! My 286 just finished compiling 2.4.20!

or

Oh man! I was downloading at 4000 K/sec before this story showed up. Thanks a lot Slashdot!

Admin Question

[peripatetic_bum]

Im in charge of keeping production servers up to date. Im using a 2.4.20-rc7.
should I go up tp 2.4.21

How often should I build the new kernels for production servers (should I even be using 2.4? ie, stick with 2.2)

Thanks for the Help!

Re:Admin Question

[kelleher]

Quiet! Leave the guy alone!

I get paid good money to come in and clean shops up after sloppy Admins have created unstable messes... :)

I take it...

[Albanach]

SCO won't be offering this new kernel for existing Caldera Linux users then?

Enjoy, losers!

[Anonymous Coward]

Ha, I'm glad I have a life, unlike you losers! Knock yourselves out compiling the newest kernel; I'll be out having a blast with my girlfriend in my Porsche.

(Okay, okay; I'm sitting at home in my underpants reloading slashdot to see if new stories are posted. I'll go download it now.)

excellent, we can switch to this

[mikeee]

when our AIX licenses expire today.

Ah

[HughJampton]

But does it run linux?

Uhh....what timing

[Cable_Monkey]

All joking aside, I was in the middle of compiling 2.4.20 when I saw this article...

Re:Be gentle to the mirrors

[Spock the Vulcan]

When I can download the Windows kernel source code and compile it in less than 5 commands, give me a call.

Re:why not posting the http links instead of the f

[SuperBanana]

ftp needs much more time and authentication stuff for login, commandos and so forth.

Man, can't a guy download a kernel via FTP without a bunch of armed dudes storming the place? Those SCO guys just don't know when to give it up.

Re:heres how to compile the kernel

[mahdi13]

You forgot some...

make modules
make modules_install

Unless you are a masochistic...er, monolithic kernel builder =)

13th?

[jmays]

Wait, recompile my kernel on Friday the 13th? I think not ....

Re:13th?

[cperciva]

Friday the 13th means nothing to Linux. The day you want to avoid upgrading to a new kernel is thanksgiving.

Make mine unixfree, please

[yukster]

Um, can I get mine without the SCO code, please? That Darrell McBride is a scary man:

The Linux business model was bound to change, and some people are having a hard time accepting this, McBride says. "The whole concept of getting something for nothing just doesn't hold up," he says. "The notion that you're going to run a Fortune 1,000 company on something that in the end could be more like Napster than an enterprise software system, it's a big question mark."
InformationWeek, today

how ironic...

[Imoen1337]

That a new kernel comes out on Friday the 13th.

Re:excellent, we can switch to this (SCO)

[Anonymous Coward]

From the Release notes:

> o [Bluetooth] Use very short disconnect timeout for SCO connections.
> o [Bluetooth] Kill incoming SCO connection when SCO socket is closed.
> o [Bluetooth] Support for SCO (voice) over HCI USB

Are these the lines SCO's bitching about?

Re:BitTorrent

[Xerithane]

Yeah, right, and people should be writing in Esperanto on their Dvorak layout keyboards, too, but that's about the same likelihood.

Est tajp jam nun, kun Dvorak... sed mi.

Re:Excelent

[PipoDeClown]

Your writing on a Linux machine now?

Re:Started to think 2.4.x was dead

[gunpowder]

Chill dude
Thanks. I needed that!
It's Friday, 13th, you know ...

Re:Impressive!

[KewlPC]

He could be running a 386 emulator on his 286.

Or maybe he's cross-compiling.

Or...

Shut up ;)

Omitted From Changelog

[Anonymous Coward]

- Removed offending SCO source code.
- Replaced offending SCO source code with ASCII art of a middle finger.

Wow, lotsa changes!

[mj01nir]

Just finished reviewing the ChangeLog. Did anything not get touched this time? Good lord, there are arcnet patches in here.

Also, when does Alan Cox sleep? Prehaps he's a new form of undead with an affinity for coding? Maybe he has cloned himself a few times? Alan, however you're doing it, we appreciate all of your hard work. Now go take a nice, long nap.

Re:Wow, lotsa changes!

[rtscts]

I think Slashdot reported that Alan had been merged directly into the kernel a few years back. He no longer has any need for his physical body.

I believe there was even an X-File about it.. some shack in the middle of nowhere with a T1.

Re:Be gentle to the mirrors

[Shagg]

And you people still wonder why so many people stick to Windows instead of trying Linux? When I can double-click an icon and click OK and have it install the updates give me a call.

Wow, what icon can I click on in Windows to compile a new version of the OS from source code?