New Testing Version Of Linux 2.6

James A. A. Joyce writes "It's all up now at the kernel archives. Get the full 2.6.0-test2 or a patch, whichever suits you. We need to test those new kernels! Hop to it!"

Comments

New in 2.6

[bethane]

Being a LKML lurker, here are a few of the new features.

In-kernel Module Loader and Unified parameter support: http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/people/rust y/patches/Module/

Nanosecond Time Patch: http://www.ussg.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/0210 .3/0793.html

Fbdev Rewrite: http://www.uwsg.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/0111 .3/1267.html

Linux Trace Trollkit (LTT): http://www.uwsg.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/0204 .1/0832.html

statfs64: http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=linux-kernel&m=103 610918825614&w=2

POSIX Timer API: http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=linux-kernel&m=103 553654329827&w=2

Shared Pagetable support: http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=linux-kernel&m=103 498293902006&w=2

Hotplug CPU Removal Support and Kernel Probes

Re:New in 2.6

[zifty]

The full changelog is here.

Re:New in 2.6

[Clith]

a URL-ized version of an informative posting

Being a LKML lurker, here are a few of the new features.

• In-kernel Module Loader and Unified parameter support
• Nanosecond Time Patch
• Fbdev Rewrite
• Linux Trace Trollkit (LTT)
• statfs64
• POSIX Timer API
• Shared Pagetable support
• Hotplug CPU Removal Support and Kernel Probes (no link provided)

HERE YOU GO

[YOU ARE SO FIRED!]

http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=linux-kernel&m=105 932590109238&w=2

And you're fired.

Re:Woo Hoo

[sirmikester]

Its not a kernel issue as it already supports USB. You'd have to have a service(daemon) running that would scan the USB ports on your computer for any changes and then have it load a program to download the pictures off your computer.

Re:PowerPC?

[Cheesy Fool]

Compared to 2.4.X these are the problems i've seen. No cpufreq scaling, alsa doesn't work too good and preempt doesn't work properly (mouse stutters).

Re:2.6.0-test1 was really boring

[Bruce Perens]

I guess I should have mentioned that I almost always run "unstable". I've always been imnpressed with its stability! I've had a down day once in about 10 years due to a bad Debian package.

I have no information regarding running it on "stable".

Bruce

A minimum level of stability needed

[mnmn]

I use Linux for a very multipurpose server... SNAT, pppoe, tokenring+ethernet+atm+arcnet+slip, apache+php+perl, postgresql, Nvidia and hordes of other stuff I cant think of now. The test1 crashed for me as I was configuring the networking portions.

For setups like me, I couldnt test Linux beta versions. The server is really not mission-critical but I believe 2.6 will keep crashing for me till version say 2.6.15 or something. I'll be trying to add my contributions to the community but not at such an alpha stage.

Re:I just installed FreeBSD

[Bodhammer]

This is one of the best recipes for a tight install I have used:

The Very Verbose Debian 3.0 Installation Walkthrough

This will give you a minimal but extremely stable install. If you want newer stuff you can shift to "testing" or "unstable". Unless your are doing cutting edge stuff, this install is bulletproof!

A new kind of karma whoring...

[NightHwk1]

Grab kernel 2.6.0-test2 via Bittorrent here

Scheduler patch

[awptic]

The scheduler in 2.6 is still having some problems with interactive programs; XMMS skips frequently when switching desktops or running a CPU intensive program in the background. Ingo Molnar put together a patch which seems to fix this nicely, I highly recommend patching the kernel before using it if you're running linux on the desktop. the patch is available at http://people.redhat.com/mingo/O(1)-scheduler/sche d-2.6.0-test1-G6

You need a test server.

[Population]

Never try anything new on your production machines.

Have a test server configured exactly (or as close as you can get) like your production server.

Always test new software on the test machine before putting it on the production machine.

This is important whether you're running Linux or Windows or whatever. Even when you're testing new versions or updates of apache or PHP or perl or postgresql or whatever.

Running untested (by you) code on production servers is guaranteed to bite you eventually.

Just save yourself the lost time and headaches and get a test box.

Your time and data are worth far more than the cost on a test box.

Thank you goes to...

[inode_buddha]

James A.A. Joyce. I should have been keeping closer track I guess, but I was still trying to do 2.6.0-test1 with the -mm2 and the -int7 patches. Thx for the info, I'll get back to you on it!

FWIW, I read the kernel ML daily and I can say that the kernel team strongly desires end user feedback in the form of commentary and bug reports (not flames!)

They're looking for all the possible "oddball" cases (AKA "corner cases") and also for extreme loads such as huge files/filesystems, throughput, mem and net bandwidth, fs integrity, etc.

Regular users should participate; Linus has said that his focus is still on desktop usability and responsiveness. Anyone else who is interested should make sure to enable the -preempt option as well -- amazing performance!

Damn... now I need to try -test2.

Re:I have yet to get this working...

[Amon Re]

That is because you you didn't enable virtual terminals in your config. Make sure you have the options CONFIG_INPUT=y, CONFIG_VT=ys, CONFIG_VGA_CONSOLE=y and CONFIG_VT_CONSOLE=y.

Re:I have yet to get this working...

[Garion911]

Make sure you have Character Devices->SUpport for console on Virtual Terminal enabled.. If you don't, you wont see anything.. But you kernel actaully was booting.