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Linux 2.4.22 Stable Kernel Released

An anonymous reader writes "Marcelo Tosatti has officially released another stable 2.4 Linux kernel. 2.4.22 was released early this morning and includes a lengthy list of fixes. It follows the last stable kernel in this tree, 2.4.21, by a little over two months."

342 comments

  1. Re:did the fix by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No... *SCO* owns it.

    Get your facts right.

  2. NO. NOT UNTIL 2.6 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    That feature is still in development. If you really need it, perhaps you should use Windows 2003 until the 2.6 kernel comes out.

  3. Too fast... again! by ospirata · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Doesn't this realese seems like the 2.4.13? The RCs came out just one week after the other. Please God, hope to have no VM issue!

    1. Re:Too fast... again! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Hint: The 2.4 maintainer is a student who gets the summer off. :-)

    2. Re:Too fast... again! by daserver · · Score: 2, Informative

      Well the last one took over 6 months. Remember that most people won't install and test kernels unless it's "final"

    3. Re:Too fast... again! by BillKaos · · Score: 3, Interesting

      There are not big core changes in this kernel, so it's believed to be very stable. Also, it includes some security fixes so you should upgrade.

    4. Re:Too fast... again! by DaveAtFraud · · Score: 1

      I remember reading someplace that Linus wants to have point releases for the stable kernel every couple of months now. No more of these massive releases that take forever to come out like 2.4.19 or 2.4.21. Another change has been to keep the current stable kernel "open" to patches so that kernel.org has had both the 2.4.21 kernel (as released) and a bitkeeper patch snapshot such as 2.4.21-bk38. Don't be surprised if there is a 2.4.22-bk1 within a day or so.

      --
      They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty.
      Ben
    5. Re:Too fast... again! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're an idiot.
      Have a look at the time delta between 2.4.21 and 2.4.22.

      VM issues are greatly exaggerated.

  4. ready to go.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    *downloads and sends check to SCO*

    1. Re:ready to go.. by IbmSockPuppet · · Score: 3, Funny

      Yeah, the number are meaningless. We're working on a plan to renumber the entire kernel back to 1.X.Y since SCO said that the problems showed up after 2.2 . Stay tuned! And don't forget to check your paypal accounts for your compensation for coordinating the SCO attack. Many thanks to all!

      --


      Cmon. Admit it. You thought about doing this but decided to be mature. I can't believe I got this name.
    2. Re:ready to go.. by pinka4242 · · Score: 0

      Oh.. SCO didnt answer my request for information at all so I have no idea what so ever how much I should pay. Wonder why they did not answer my emails, dont they want licencing revenues from me? ;)

  5. 2.4 VS 2.6 Performance by Hornsby · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'm curious if anybody has experienced dramatic performance increases running X when switching from 2.4 to the 2.6 testing branch of the kernel.

    --
    A musician without the RIAA, is like a fish without a bicycle.
    1. Re:2.4 VS 2.6 Performance by daserver · · Score: 5, Informative

      I've been running the 2.6 test for a while and the latest O1int patches from con have really made this a pleasure for desktop users. 2.6-test3-mm2 had massive skips when playing xmms and untaring, like 2.4 also has on my machine. But 2.6-test4-mm1 completely fixed this. I have not had a skip yet. Please not that this is from normal usage.

    2. Re:2.4 VS 2.6 Performance by Gherald · · Score: 3, Funny

      I have a friend who's mouse ended up moving across the screen almost 10 times faster than usual with 2.6-test2.

      We joked about the 1000% increase in performance.

    3. Re:2.4 VS 2.6 Performance by NightHwk1 · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      I switched from linux-2.4.20-gentoo1 to linux-2.6.0-test3-mm3 and X seems much more responsive.. no more jumpy mouse cursors, and I no longer have a problem with memory leaks.

      Switching to ALSA from OSS is cool, I suppose.. though I don't notice any benefits from it yet, and I'm waiting to see what the sysfs is all about.

      Anyway, things are working better than they did before. I would recommend upgrading to 2.6 as soon as its released.

    4. Re:2.4 VS 2.6 Performance by 955301 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Absolutely! I'm not sure how to qualify it other than to say that X comes up more aggressively, it's more responsive to user input, and I haven't had any nasty spills with test3 so far.

      It's probably not the smartest thing I've done running on a test kernel for my work notebook, but the added functionality including support for all of the hardware on a Sager 4760 (save the build in vid camera) makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.

      It's just a shame that the Cisco VPN client isn't out for 2.6 (that I'm aware of - please correct me if I'm wrong). Otherwise I would be all set.

      --
      You are checking your backups, aren't you?
    5. Re:2.4 VS 2.6 Performance by BillKaos · · Score: 2, Informative

      I use:

      emilio@ellugar:~$ uname -a
      Linux ellugar 2.6.0-test3 #9 Wed Aug 20 15:21:40 CEST 2003 i686 GNU/Linux

      I can say 2.6 feels better (mainly from better disk I/O scheduling), but the process scheduler starves sometimes.

      Anyway, worth trying it, I think it's almost ready.

    6. Re:2.4 VS 2.6 Performance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Its funny. Laugh.

    7. Re:2.4 VS 2.6 Performance by BillKaos · · Score: 1

      Ups, also, if you want to be in the egde of X responsiveness, you should try Con Kolivas's scheduler patches.

    8. Re:2.4 VS 2.6 Performance by Overly+Critical+Guy · · Score: 1

      Honestly, I saw no improvement after a stock Slackware 9 install and 2.6.0-test4-bk2. I would have kept using 2.6, but when I recompiled again to tweak options, I had module problems (there appears to be a bug involving serial devices being compiled as modules), so I switched back to Slackware's stock kernel. But I wasn't doing anything intensive for comparison, though.

      --
      "Sufferin' succotash."
    9. Re:2.4 VS 2.6 Performance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      go get test4, slowpoke!

    10. Re:2.4 VS 2.6 Performance by SpaceLifeForm · · Score: 1

      Definitely better with the pre-emptive option. X is *much* more responsive with a kernel build going on. This is with 2.6.0-test4.

      --
      You are being MICROattacked, from various angles, in a SOFT manner.
    11. Re:2.4 VS 2.6 Performance by hal9000 · · Score: 3, Informative

      Check out this great writeup by Con Kolivas on the subject. We've got a lot of really great minds looking to improve interactivity in the kernel. Great stuff, and no doubt more to come.

      --
      Look out honey, 'cause I'm using technology; Ain't got time to make no apology
    12. Re:2.4 VS 2.6 Performance by Stonent1 · · Score: 2, Informative

      I'm running the current 2.4.x release that Gentoo has and I tried with the preemptive kernel options, but it only seemed to break a lot of modules. Even deleting the modules folder and rebuilding caused many of the modules to fail on startup saying that it could not find the preempt function (something like that)make clean / make mrproper didn't help either so I'll wait to 2.6 is gold before messing with it again.

    13. Re:2.4 VS 2.6 Performance by elgaard · · Score: 1

      Yes.
      On my K7 1500+ laptop it seemed better and ACPI speedstepping works (although that is still 2.5.72). However it was snappy with 2.4 too.

      But I am writing this on an old laptop with a 233 P. classic, using Ion and Dillo so the 64Mbyte RAM is plenty. I am recompiling the kernel and upgrading my Debian at the same time just to test it.
      It is just flying. I would call it drastic.

      I guess this old laptop resembles a PDA nowadays.

    14. Re:2.4 VS 2.6 Performance by sparrow_hawk · · Score: 1

      I have to say I found a *huge* difference in responsiveness. I actually had to turn my mouse speed *down*, because all I had to do was sneeze and my cursor was hiding offscreen.

      I'm running -test3 and I've had a few stutters in XMMS and the like... I'll have to try out -test4. I'm by no means running a powerful system, and it feels as responsive as several brand-new systems I've tried.

    15. Re:2.4 VS 2.6 Performance by greenrd · · Score: 2, Insightful
      I'm running the current 2.4.x release that Gentoo has and I tried with the preemptive kernel options, but it only seemed to break a lot of modules. Even deleting the modules folder and rebuilding caused many of the modules to fail on startup saying that it could not find the preempt function (something like that)make clean / make mrproper didn't help either so I'll wait to 2.6 is gold before messing with it again.

      You must not be building or installing correctly. Perhaps the ebuild scripts are broken, or perhaps you're not using them correctly - I don't use Gentoo so I couldn't say.

      It sounds like you built the kernel but didn't install it correctly, hence the not finding the preempt routine messages.

      The safest way to recompile a kernel without problems is:

      1. Make sure you have a saved copy of the configuration you want to use / base it on
      2. Run "make mrproper" (which tries to return the build directory to a pristine state, without even a configuration file)
      3. Put the configuration back
      4. Run "make oldconfig" if you don't want to change anything, or some other variant of "make fooconfig" if you do.
      5. Continue the build as normal
    16. Re:2.4 VS 2.6 Performance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      2.6-test5 is out already?

    17. Re:2.4 VS 2.6 Performance by pjkundert · · Score: 1
      I'm using:
      $ uname -a
      Linux tramp 2.6.0-test2-1-386 #1 Sat Aug 2 10:49:01 EST 2003 i686 GNU/Linux

      on my laptop (600MHz OmniBook 6000), and it is awesome! Much, much better than 2.4.21. It literally feels like a machine with twice the CPU it had before. Mouse motion is incredibly smooth, switching focus is much quicker and less jumpy, interactive applications are... interactive.

      The only issue I've run into is related to when it powers down the display; sometimes (about 5% of the time) the display won't come back on. I'll have to switch into the console (CTRL-ALT-1), log in, and reboot, blind. Other than that, I've run into no issues at all. I've used Open Office, emacs, mozilla, g++ extensively on the machine, with no glitches.

      I installed using
      $ apt-get install kernel-image-2.6.0-test2-1-386
      and then I had to add the following to my /etc/modules:
      mousedev
      psmouse
      rebooted, and voila! Brand new user experience. I would recommend it highly. I have my filesystem NFS mounted from a nice, Debian "stable" firewall system, though... ;^)

      --
      -- -pjk Perry Kundert perry@kundert.ca http://kundert.2y.net
    18. Re:2.4 VS 2.6 Performance by 222 · · Score: 1

      Holy crap, i thought it was just me having trouble with XMMS ;)
      Been running test-2 here for a couple of weeks and everything has been rosy other than my mp3 playback. Just by minimizing windows i could make it skip on command, which was embarassing when i was touting the superiority of linux to my boss.
      Looks like i have something other than reading slashdot to do at work tommorow ;).

    19. Re:2.4 VS 2.6 Performance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Did you use the genkernel prog, cause if you did, well it's broken, so you have to build it manually. I have no problems using 2.4.20-gaming-r3. Even when I used 2.4.21 vanilla I had no problems using prempt after I applied the patch.

    20. Re:2.4 VS 2.6 Performance by Stonent1 · · Score: 1

      Yeah I was using genkernel for compiling. After removing the pre-empt functions and moving the modules folder and recompiling it works. Now that I think about it, do you have to emerge a patch before compiling with pre-empt? If so that must have been it. Because these drastic speedups that everyone talks about didn't seem there on mine.

    21. Re:2.4 VS 2.6 Performance by joshholtzman · · Score: 1

      Are there any distros running 2.6 out of the box yet? I want to install linux on my own Sager 4760, but I'm afraid of the hasle of installing with 2.4 and recompiling with 2.6. I've heard the horror stories of getting this notebook to run linux, but it sounds like you have the recipe for success! I've been reading sagerforums.com, but no one there's had the success that you have. Any pointers you can provide? Cheers!

  6. Re:Bug fixes sound good, but... by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 3, Funny
    have they fixed the fact is isn't Windows?

    If it ain't broke...

    'Running' winders is like running a dirty toilet.

    --
    "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
    Never been known to fail..."
  7. So Many Kernels by Spencerian · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...and no popcorn...!

    WTF is it with this machine I bought that doesn't give me my popcorn when I give it kernels?!

    Ah, forget it. I'll go back to closing and opening Windows and see if it's more likely I'll get some fresh air in the house.

    --
    Vos teneo officium eram periculosus ut vos recipero is.
    1. Re:So Many Kernels by quasi_steller · · Score: 3, Funny

      Maybe your processor isn't getting hot enough. If your processor isn't getting hot enough then the kernels won't pop into popcorn. Try buying an Athalon or Pentium 4 processor. They get quite hot.

      --
      ...interesting if true.
    2. Re:So Many Kernels by BoysDontCry · · Score: 1

      Yes, but be sure not to let the smoke out of your processor. The smoke needs to stay inside it in order for it to run properly.

    3. Re:So Many Kernels by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why do people keep spelling Athlon as Athalon?

    4. Re:So Many Kernels by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because that is how they are saying it.

    5. Re:So Many Kernels by morgajel · · Score: 1

      *sigh* kids these days.
      in order to get the most out of your machine, you have to know what to do. there is one thing any pc user can do to speed up their machine- Butter your RAM- yes, butter your RAM.

      The lubrication helps the bits move faster, as well as keeps the PC cool.
      There's also the added bonus that the smoke genie( that little guy who lives in your PC) will come up to the surface for a bite to eat. This can triple the speed of your computer if you can coax him to the surface... You have to be careful tho- if you put too much butter on there, the smoke genie can grease the bars of his cage with it and escape!

      I've never quite been able to get the proportions right and have ended up frying every machine I tried it on- but for a while it was running fast!

      --
      Looking for Book Reviews? Check out Literary Escapism.
    6. Re:So Many Kernels by cant_get_a_good_nick · · Score: 1

      Reminds me of a story....

      Back when the Pentium (Original Pentium) F00F bug came out, Intel had people send their chips for replacement. One guy, a fairly geek savvy one, tried to get his chip out, manufacturer glued it in. They found out the hard way that Zero Insertion Force also meant Zero Removal Force and doc workers were walking away with thousands of dollars in chips, so they glued them in. What to do.. what to do... Then - inspiration. This is a PENTIUM. He removed the heatsink, the chip ran hot enough that it melted the glue in minutes, he pulled it out, sent to Intel.

  8. Changelog 2.4.21 - 2.4.22?? by simetra · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Is there such a thing? It's tiresome reading through all the changelogs (2.4.21 -> pre1 -> pre2 -> etc).

    Thanks

    --

    "Would it kill you to put down the toilet seat?" -- Maya Angelou
    1. Re:Changelog 2.4.21 - 2.4.22?? by Rushuru · · Score: 1

      I miss the old (pre bk changelogs)

      They were only a few lines long (say 5-15) and looked a bit like this
      -ACPI fixes (Linus)
      -XYZ driver updates (Alan)

      Sure they were a lot less detailed, but at least they were "moderate-geek compliant".

      With the new changelogs, I read the first few lines and then I give up, because it's too long and too complicated.

      --
      !
      ^_^
    2. Re:Changelog 2.4.21 - 2.4.22?? by Jetson · · Score: 1

      I read through it, and it's mostly fixes to ACPI, USB and networking drivers.

    3. Re:Changelog 2.4.21 - 2.4.22?? by Wolfrider · · Score: 1

      --They also put in fixes for SCSI drivers (AIC7xxx) and HOPEFULLY fixed AC_97 sound. I just did a Find in the changelog for things that were broken/not updated in 2.4.21.

      --
      .
      == WolfriderV6 == I'm willing to admit that *I just might* be wrong... Are you??
  9. Re:FSF and RMS paralyzed against SCO's lawsuit. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wow, some idiot marked this as troll within 10 seconds (after submitting it myself and pressing reload) I bet that dumbass didn't even read the contents.

  10. What's the point by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Interesting
    And what's the point?

    I can't install a vanilla source distributed Linux kernel on my RedHat anymore because the boot process requires that specific modules and kernel services are available. To ensure that I need to download a RedHat version of the kernel.

  11. torrents available by gordlea · · Score: 5, Informative

    For those of you who use bittorrent, try:

    linux-2.4.22.tar.bz2
    patch-2.4.22.bz2

    --

    Choose yer poison: Prophets or Profits

    1. Re:torrents available by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Out of seeds at 53%. Please keep uploading after you finish.

    2. Re:torrents available by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Also try http://alsutton.force9.co.uk/, seems to have a seed permanently online.

  12. Default SCO joke by Cynic+1.0 · · Score: 0

    It's been more than 24 hours to the last SCO story. Is lightbulbs and new kernel releases the best we can do?

    I believe it's time for Cowboyneal to start sponsoring SCO's crack habit now M$ is going to make a quiet exit after their lame ass attempt at destroying Linux and the GPL.

    1. Re:Default SCO joke by Eric+Ass+Raymond · · Score: 1

      They don't want to post a SCO story because the next story would be about an open source zealot who DoSsed SCO.

  13. Re:Kernel design/architecture. by BillFarber · · Score: 1

    I hope you're not expecting an unbiased response to this on slashdot.

  14. Re:What IS NEW!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Linux Trace Trollkit (LTT)
    Look out trolls, now we have a way to trace you!

  15. Most important fix. by bfl · · Score: 5, Funny

    Kai Makisara:
    o Change Kai Makisara's email address
    I was wondering when someone would get around to this.

    1. Re:Most important fix. by usotsuki · · Score: 1

      Heh, I think a picture of Mai Shiranui on boot would be more important, to me anyway. "Yo! Me pretty!" :D

      -uso.

      --
      Dreams, dreams, don't doubt dreams, dreaming children's dreaming dreams. Sailor Moon SS
  16. Are we ever going to get hibernate? by Malc · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Summary of changes from v2.4.22-rc2 to v2.4.22-rc3

    @lt;len.brown:intel.com>:
    o ACPI update
    o ACPI build fix
    o linux-acpi-2.4.22.patch

    1. Re:Are we ever going to get hibernate? by bogie · · Score: 2, Insightful

      That's what keeps linux off my laptop fulltime. I simply got tired of monkeying with patches and scripts in order to get all my hardware working the way its supposed to. When ACPI become pretty much defacto a few years ago I was pretty worried because the entire world was going ACPI and linux didn't even have anything going yet. Flash forward to now and this widely used feature is overall still MIA for linux. Basically its totally hit or miss if your machine will work with ACPI and that's a huge problem.

      The problem from what I understand is there are so many iterations of it that the devs simply can't get the kernel to work with all of them. I can't fault them for that, but ACPI is as common as TCPIP now and this is one area where Linux has fallen way behind the curve. Having only some hardware work and only certain functions available just isn't good enough.

      --
      If you wanna get rich, you know that payback is a bitch
    2. Re:Are we ever going to get hibernate? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Try bitching to someone who _might_ care; e.g. your laptop vendor! Get them to fix their BIOS; broken DSDT tables are the root of most Linux ACPI woes.

    3. Re:Are we ever going to get hibernate? by gosand · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Summary of changes from v2.4.22-rc2 to v2.4.22-rc3

      @lt;len.brown:intel.com>:
      o ACPI update
      o ACPI build fix
      o linux-acpi-2.4.22.patch

      What, you can't tell from these extremely descriptive release notes?


      Unfortunately, for most of the world, releasing a new kernel doesn't mean much until a distro releases it in a release. Why? Well, there is no way to tell what the hell is in a new kernel. OK, you could search the LKML, or wait for someone else to do some legwork and post the results of it. I've said it before, and I'll say it again - whoever releases the kernel should take a few minutes and do a quick writeup of what is new in the kernel. Not "fixed bug in foo.c" but something a bit more descriptive. Is it so hard? I am not being an ingrate, but I don't get why the maintainers don't do this. Yeah, you could go with the "they're engineers, not doc people!" but who better to describe what is fixed than the people who fixed it? Are you telling me that these people are incapable of describing in a sentence or two what their fix does?


      No big deal I guess, and I am sure I'll get modded down for not drooling over a new kernel. But I'll bet 90% of the people who rave about it don't know what they are compiling.

      --

      My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.

    4. Re:Are we ever going to get hibernate? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Way behind? Windows has plenty of ACPI issues of its own, from what I've seen. Not only that, but Intel has at least one full time engineer working on Linux ACPI support (IIRC). Seems to me the standard itself is either too complicated for its own good, or many manufacturers are deviating for whatever reason. Hardly a fault of Linux itself. :)

    5. Re:Are we ever going to get hibernate? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Certain big name Linux developers were very anti-ACPI and very misinformed to boot (thinking that ACPI was only power management and that APM would be supported indefinately). Thus any early attempt at getting ACPI working was greeted by flames, delaying the effort by some time.

    6. Re:Are we ever going to get hibernate? by Hatta · · Score: 2, Informative

      Unfortunately, for most of the world, releasing a new kernel doesn't mean much until a distro releases it in a release.

      Sure it does. You take your old config do a 'make oldconfig' and it'll prompt you for the new features. Then you just compile and install as usual. It's easy.

      --
      Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
    7. Re:Are we ever going to get hibernate? by Micah · · Score: 1

      Nope, not unless you patch like mad. Distro kernels all (almost all) have numerous patches that Linus' kernel does not have. If you "upgrade" like this, you could well lose functionality or screw up your system. Don't do it unless you know what you're doing.

      If your kernel has a serious problem that needs to be fixed, your distro will release a fixed kernel (if it's still supported).

    8. Re:Are we ever going to get hibernate? by jaxdahl · · Score: 1

      I know this isn't quite what you're looking for, but you can find major feature milestones here: kernel newbies list

    9. Re:Are we ever going to get hibernate? by zenyu · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The problem from what I understand is there are so many iterations of it that the devs simply can't get the kernel to work with all of them. I can't fault them for that, but ACPI is as common as TCPIP now and this is one area where Linux has fallen way behind the curve. Having only some hardware work and only certain functions available just isn't good enough.

      As somebody who wrote an early user space cpu frequency scaling deamon, I think it's not just all the broken ACPI tables but also the fact that the intel engineers change the interface at ever minor iteration. Even with all the changes they still have very strange convetions such as numbering CPU's starting at 1. If you just want to last longer on batteries you can use the cpufreq deamon, it's a strange beast in 2.4, but makes some sense in 2.6 with the /sys filesystem interface. There is an effort to backport the /sys interface if like me your laptop doesn't like 2.6. When ACPI doesn't work there are also CPU only modules that don't rely on ACPI. The only hitch is that your laptop may not be enabled if no one has posted to the list that it works for them, cuz different motherboards require different voltages and may need longer times between frequency changes than the CPU does (memory bus lines, support chips, and power supply all effect these params.) This is one of the things ACPI is supposed to tell you but most BIOSes are very broken, which is why ACPI doesn't always work when it should.

      Once it's working though your Linux laptop can be both more responsive and last longer on batteries than Windows. Windows is very conservative in interpreting ACPI tables and also doesn't have a very flexible set of frequency scaling algorithms.

    10. Re:Are we ever going to get hibernate? by jwr · · Score: 1

      See the swsusp project, which provides this functionality.

      ACPI is only a means to trigger hibernation, the ACPI subsystem isn't suppose to save your machine's state to disk.

    11. Re:Are we ever going to get hibernate? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's not much use. It's most useful to try bitching to someone who _might_ be able to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. Hardware vendors aren't going to say 'oh yeah, we'll go back and revisit some old hardware just to update the ACPI implementation for you'. It's more likely to be worked-around in software which I think is fair enough.

    12. Re:Are we ever going to get hibernate? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Heylo,

      Try out "software suspend" -- Google for it. It's a kernel patch which enables hibernation entirely in software, by writing the RAM to the swap partition and shutting down. Next boot, the kernel spots the swap partition's signature and loads the RAM back.

      I'm running it on a ThinkPad here, and it works perfectly.

      K

    13. Re:Are we ever going to get hibernate? by struct_sockaddr_in · · Score: 1

      "im trying a find ./ -name foo.c in my /usr/src" and im not finding any... HAHAH i've liked this comment... i really think that linux kernel versions should be more likely BSD kernel versions, just a huge good one well documented version.

  17. Re:Kernel design/architecture. by jd · · Score: 3, Informative

    I don't have detailed info on OS design, but probably you'll want to take a look at the OSKit and Exokern websites, as they do go into some depth on design issues.

    --
    It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
  18. Obligatory Simpsons reference by Cap'n+Canuck · · Score: 2, Funny

    WTF is it with this machine I bought that doesn't give me my popcorn when I give it kernels?!

    ...and my TAB key isn't working either...

    1. Re:Obligatory Simpsons reference by ncc74656 · · Score: 2, Funny
      ...and my TAB key isn't working either...

      At least you found it. I'm still looking for the Any key...

      --
      20 January 2017: the End of an Error.
    2. Re:Obligatory Simpsons reference by ibennetch · · Score: 1

      Why, I'm glad you came to slashdot with your question. Compaq was friendly enough to provide all the information on your support issue that you need to be a real hacker [grin].

  19. New Kernel doesn't matter here. by deathcow · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Mod me off-topic if you wish, I for one welcome our new off-topic overlords.

    We don't need a new kernel for now. The existing kernel has been highly stable in the types of jobs we throw at it. But that's not why it doesn't matter. Our director has finally handed down the "No more Linux installs" message. Here is the message:

    As some of you may know. SCO has a lawsuit filed against IBM for breach of contract, misappropriation of trade secrets, etc. The bottom line of this disagreement is that SCO is accusing IBM of including some of SCO's trade secrets (proprietary code) in its Linux kernel and that this source code has also been included in the Linux kernel available off the Internet.

    To top all of this off, the US Copyright Office awarded SCO a copyright to System IV Unix last month. SCO, through a series of mergers and acquisitions, acquired the patents, copyrights, etc to System IV Unix that was originally developed by Bell Labs in 1969. About this same time, SCO created a new division whose only purpose in life was to license Linux and Unix to end users.

    Because of all of this confusion, I have asked our legal eagles to give me an opinion as to whether or not our recent installation of Linux systems in the (our department name) places (our company name) in any sort of jeopardy. Frankly, I think that SCO is simply struggling for survival as it is in severe financial trouble. I also think that any rights SCO may have think it had at one time has been abrogated since SCO was (until last month) freely distributing Linux on its web site under the GNU General Public License.

    But until I receive an opinion from Legal, we will not deploy any more Linux systems.

    p.s. We are a 1200 employee telecommunications company, ISP, cable TV, long distance telephone, etc.

    1. Re:New Kernel doesn't matter here. by MadCow42 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I wish we could charge the legal expenses for evaluating these types of things to SCO... their FUD costs us real money, especially when they're shown to be totally baseless.

      Too bad that once that's proven, there won't be an SCO to recover damages from. Oh well...

      MadCow.

      --
      I used to have a sig, but I set it free and it never came back.
    2. Re:New Kernel doesn't matter here. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You know, you could have waited 15 minutes and posted this to the next SCO update and not been horribly offtopic.

    3. Re:New Kernel doesn't matter here. by Shenkerian · · Score: 1
      p.s. We are a 1200 employee telecommunications company, ISP, cable TV, long distance telephone, etc.

      IOW, you're the devil incarnate.
      (joking, joking...)

      (sort of)

      --
      You tell me how "whilst" differs from "while," and I'll stop calling you a pretentious jackass.
    4. Re:New Kernel doesn't matter here. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Luckily, you probably won't be deploying Windows either considering there are at least two IP lawsuits going on against them and, contrary to their recent crowing about paying for legal fees, their EULA says that you would be liable in court should anyone decide to sue you for improper IP usage.

      Considering the track records of Linux and MS, I tend to believe Linux is innocent while MS is guilty as sin.

    5. Re:New Kernel doesn't matter here. by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

      No, but if the Justice Department gets off its ass and does its job properly, Darl McBribe and Chris Sontag will still be alive and kicking after SCO vanishes in a cloud of cmoke, and can therefore be sent to prison for fraud and racketeering.

      All the companies who have lost money from their FUD may not get their money back, but at least we'll all have the satisfaction of knowing Darl and Chris are getting some from Bubba.

    6. Re:New Kernel doesn't matter here. by Lumpy · · Score: 4, Interesting

      so you are one of the small fish.

      I'm with a 2.2 million employee Telecommunications/ CABLE TV etc.. company and we are accelerating the deployment and installation of linux in the enterprise.

      the last 2 weeks have put the Top of the company in a position that they no longer can trust microsoft systems for the backbone of the company. Linux is being given the green light all over the place.

      SCO's lawsuit has zero effect on companies that have sharp upper management and employees. in fact the District vice president of sales mentioned to us in a meeting that the SCO lawsuit is to be considered a joke and ignored in our deployment research and plans.

      Sorry that your company is ran by people that do not get a complete picture before making business decisions, and best of luck to you.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    7. Re:New Kernel doesn't matter here. by ch-chuck · · Score: 1

      So the terrorists have already won, the Msft backed FUD bomb worked...

      --
      try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
    8. Re:New Kernel doesn't matter here. by deathcow · · Score: 5, Funny
      Love the idea!!

      Darl, doing 24 months hard time, runs into Bubba. -- Darl, meet Bubba, he's a 350 pound homosexual dominatrix, and absolute Linux fanatic. He also admins our prison Linux machines, I mean, ADMIN'D our Linux lab. You see, once SCO started charging Linux licenses, the warden ordered Bubba to remove all Linux and only allowed him to use Microsoft products.

    9. Re:New Kernel doesn't matter here. by Zeriel · · Score: 2, Funny

      Obscure language nazi!

      Bubba can't be a dominatrix in prison, as they don't allow him to cross-dress. Dominatrix is a female-gendered form of dominator.

      Compare to aviator/aviatrix (which is now an archaic term, has been since the 50s)

      --
      "America has done some terrible things. But I know that Americans don't cheer when innocents die." -Dave Barry
    10. Re:New Kernel doesn't matter here. by deathcow · · Score: 1

      LOL Zeriel thanks for the clarification. I really gotta beef up on my fetish terminology and usage.

    11. Re:New Kernel doesn't matter here. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'd like to see any kind of media about those Windows related lawsuits you mention. That would be a load of fun to suggest holding off on Windows installs until these issues are resolved. (I mean until msft dumps the appropriate corpses.)

    12. Re:New Kernel doesn't matter here. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      <blockquote "our director">I also think that any rights SCO may have think it had at one time has been abrogated since SCO was (until last month) freely distributing Linux on its web site under the GNU General Public License.</blockquote>
      Your director he no speak english too good, have he two pointy-like tufts hairy on top? Or is you perhaps inventing out of thin air troll-like?
    13. Re:New Kernel doesn't matter here. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, no question about it - we wear the white hats.

    14. Re:New Kernel doesn't matter here. by Zeriel · · Score: 1

      I suppose it's too late to point out that I spotted the error due to recognizing the -or/-rix as a gender-based construction rather than anything more than passing familiarity with any fetish scene. =P

      --
      "America has done some terrible things. But I know that Americans don't cheer when innocents die." -Dave Barry
    15. Re:New Kernel doesn't matter here. by arcanumas · · Score: 1

      2.2 million employees?! Are you sure you mean company and not Country?

      --
      Slashdot Sig. version 0.1alpha. Use at your own risk.
    16. Re:New Kernel doesn't matter here. by HardCase · · Score: 1
      I'm with a 2.2 million employee Telecommunications/ CABLE TV etc.. company and we are accelerating the deployment and installation of linux in the enterprise.


      I'm with you! We have about 20,000 employees worldwide and, not only are we inexorably moving towards Linux on all of our workstations (as CAD/CAE software is ported), but when Micosoft came around with threats and demands that we upgrade the entire company to Windows XP because they were no longer going to license NT to us, we told 'em to pack sand. So we still use NT on desktops, but I notice that the number of NT desktops keeps shrinking.


      Much of our networking, by the way, is based on Sun servers running Solaris.


      -h-

    17. Re:New Kernel doesn't matter here. by wfrp01 · · Score: 1

      Interesting that I ran across this thread immediately after reading this article about idiot bosses at CNN. Their conclusion? Leave.

      --

      --Lawrence Lessig for Congress!
    18. Re:New Kernel doesn't matter here. by Camel+Pilot · · Score: 1

      Oh ok maybe we will just move to AIX ... oh no SCO revoked that licence... ok SGI then it is ... oh no there was that misappropiated code in Linux that had SGI copyright on ... MSDOS on all our servers till this clears over - there that should be safe.

      Seriously your Director should be smart enough to see thru this. You do not pay fees based on rumors and rumors btw that have been proven to date to be baseless.

    19. Re:New Kernel doesn't matter here. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      2.2 million employee

      You might want to double check that figure, maybe you meant 220K employees. The largest non-government employer in the world is WalMart at 1.3M employees. That aside, you're right that the last two weeks has made the pitching of non-MS alternatives much much easier to present to the PHBs.

    20. Re:New Kernel doesn't matter here. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unlike IBM, Microsoft has said they will indemnify users against any IP problems.

    21. Re:New Kernel doesn't matter here. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hmm, but SCO isn't even complaining about the 2.2 kernel. Your legal people don't read very well, which is strange for legal people.

    22. Re:New Kernel doesn't matter here. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Which company would that be? Wal-Mart's the biggest employer in the world, and they have half the employees you claim to.

      And from your slashblurb:
      Oh, and I sneak Linux servers in the corp. all the time.

      Is that how you're accelerating the deployment and installation of linux?

    23. Re:New Kernel doesn't matter here. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And woe is you when that completely backfires and all the hundreds of Linux expliots, remote and local that no one knew about (including you obviously) get exploited.

      And good luck trying to keep up with the dozen or so patches EVERY WEEK from at lteast a dozen "vendors" that you will have to maintain across tens of thousands of computers...

      Yeah, good luck with that.

    24. Re:New Kernel doesn't matter here. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No need Junior. MS has announced indemnification for their customers. Something Linux will *never* *ever* be able to do. Yet one more reason to go with MS and not Linux.

    25. Re:New Kernel doesn't matter here. by Molina+the+Bofh · · Score: 1

      He works for Microsoft.

      --

      -
      Roses are #FF0000, Violets are #0000FF, find / -name '*base*' |xargs chown -R us && mv zig greatjustice
    26. Re:New Kernel doesn't matter here. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Isn't it funny how obvious trolls never get modded that way?

    27. Re:New Kernel doesn't matter here. by JanneM · · Score: 1

      Yep, our company (www.area17.nu) is pretty much all Linux by now. Of course, the entire outfit consists of me and two other people so it might not have quite the impact you have :)

      --
      Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
    28. Re:New Kernel doesn't matter here. by HardCase · · Score: 1
      Yep, our company (www.area17.nu) is pretty much all Linux by now. Of course, the entire outfit consists of me and two other people so it might not have quite the impact you have :)


      Maybe not through brute force, but you are leading by example. Sometimes it's astonishing what a grassroots revolution can accomplish!


      -h-

  20. How will this change my life? by 2toise · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I run Debian, what practical difference will this make if I install it? I use the system for office type tasks.
    Thanks

    1. Re:How will this change my life? by AlXtreme · · Score: 2, Informative

      It won't. Really, if a kernel works for you, and you have no interest in upgrading it if a new release only contains bugfixes, don't. It would be different if there were serious security issues, but it's just a bugfixing-release (with speedtouch usb and crypto support added). Repeat after me: 'My Life Will Go On With An Older Kernel', there ya go...

      --
      This sig is intentionally left blank
    2. Re:How will this change my life? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I run Debian, what practical difference will this make if I install it?

      There's a long way between 2.0.x and 2.4.22 kernals. The main practical difference is USB support, sound, infrared port and premptiving multitasking. All in all, a great kernal. You should definitely try it especially for desktop usage. Good luck.

  21. Kernel.org is very slow by brokencomputer · · Score: 1

    Is it possible that this has been a result of the slashdot effect?

    1. Re:Kernel.org is very slow by ospirata · · Score: 1

      Well, it may be the slashdot effect, but you should check the kernel.org bandwidth usage. It it's full, then yeap, it's slashdot effect.

  22. Re:What IS NEW!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    wow the kernel is now equipped to troll slashdot?

  23. Re:nice... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Didn't you know Bill Gates has mod points?

  24. Slowed to a Crawl by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Well, it's happened again. kernel.org just slowed to a crawl.

    Remember to use those mirrors, folks!

    1. Re:Slowed to a Crawl by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hmm... You wouldn't have noticed the slowdown if you were using one of those mirrors, now would you?

    2. Re:Slowed to a Crawl by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I haven't downloaded it yet; my only currently running Linux machine uses 2.4.21-ac4 and that's not likely to change for a while.

      I just happened to click on the links in the story and noticed that kernel.org wasn't responding as fast as it normally does.

  25. Re:What IS NEW!!! by Cynic+1.0 · · Score: 1, Funny

    Don't see anything in the changelog about removing ugly-ass Unix code claimed by SCO to be their own ... :-)

  26. Re:What IS NEW!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Now if we could only do something about them getting mod points.

  27. IHBT. IHL. I should just FOAD. by usotsuki · · Score: 1

    I tried to install 2.4.21 and it wouldn't read my hard drive ...

    Downgraded to 2.4.20 and it worked fine. These were both "stock" (kernel.org) kernels.

    Before, I had only used the Red Hat 8 kernel, a modified 2.4.18. Both the 2.4.18 and 2.4.20 seem quite stable to me.

    -uso.

    --
    Dreams, dreams, don't doubt dreams, dreaming children's dreaming dreams. Sailor Moon SS
    1. Re:IHBT. IHL. I should just FOAD. by dipipanone · · Score: 1

      These were both "stock" (kernel.org) kernels.

      Did you compile them yourself then? How do you know that the problem wasn't due to an error in your compilation, rather than a problem with the kernel?

    2. Re:IHBT. IHL. I should just FOAD. by amcguinn · · Score: 2, Informative

      Is it possible you made a mistake installing the new one?

      If not, you would be performing a public service (in a small way) by trying to track down the problem and reporting it (e.g. on linux-kernel). This is a stable release, and dropped support for any hardware or configuration is a bug.

    3. Re:IHBT. IHL. I should just FOAD. by snofla · · Score: 1

      Yes, I had the same problems with 2.4.21 (where 2.4.20 worked fine).
      I am now using a 2.4.22 pre version, so I guess 2.4.22 has it fixed.
      (I think there were heavy changes in the IDE stuff that had not settled down in 2.4.21 yet)

      --
      i don't like style guides
    4. Re:IHBT. IHL. I should just FOAD. by usotsuki · · Score: 1

      Because doing things EXACTLY the same way I got a working 2.4.20.

      -uso.

      --
      Dreams, dreams, don't doubt dreams, dreaming children's dreaming dreams. Sailor Moon SS
    5. Re:IHBT. IHL. I should just FOAD. by usotsuki · · Score: 1

      I'm a n00b, so anything that goes wrong is likely to be pilot error. Still, why would something work fine in .20? Anyway, the selection for my IDE hardware was indeed there, and it was checked. Oh well. .20 works, so I'm staying with it. Besides, it's masochism for me to build anything big on my box because I only have 64MB RAM. (For example, I can't seem to get gcc 3.2.3 to compile because it runs down the memory and either causes a thrash or gets killed.)

      -uso.
      BTW there's a reason I said I should just FOAD...

      --
      Dreams, dreams, don't doubt dreams, dreaming children's dreaming dreams. Sailor Moon SS
    6. Re:IHBT. IHL. I should just FOAD. by dipipanone · · Score: 1

      Well, there's no arguing with that is there? Though my own experience is that I should never attribute anything to bugs before I've completely ruled out the possibility of my own error.

      Hence the question.

    7. Re:IHBT. IHL. I should just FOAD. by usotsuki · · Score: 1

      True, and I did get a bit of a stepthrough in an irc channel on Freenode, just to see if I couldn't somehow cajole the damn thing into running.

      I tried everything.

      In the end, I had to go back one release. No big deal. I just wanted a REAL Linux kernel, as opposed to a Hed Rat one. Now if only I could get gcc to compile without running out of memory...anyone got a fake ./configure or makefile I could shove in the libjava directory? :) Or perhaps, some way to use /tmp for swap, in addition to my partition? (Note: I don't have a large swap partition.)

      -uso.

      --
      Dreams, dreams, don't doubt dreams, dreaming children's dreaming dreams. Sailor Moon SS
    8. Re:IHBT. IHL. I should just FOAD. by i_am_nitrogen · · Score: 1

      256MB temporary swap file:

      dd if=/dev/zero of=/tmp/swap bs=1048576 count=256
      mkswap /tmp/swap
      swapon /tmp/swap

    9. Re:IHBT. IHL. I should just FOAD. by twistedcubic · · Score: 1

      Interesting. I have three hard drives, and vanilla kernels 2.4.21 and 2.4.22 only recognize the first one. 2.4.20 works just fine, though. I wonder what has changed.

    10. Re:IHBT. IHL. I should just FOAD. by usotsuki · · Score: 1

      Arigatou!

      Heh, I know just enough to be dangerous... :D

      -uso.

      --
      Dreams, dreams, don't doubt dreams, dreaming children's dreaming dreams. Sailor Moon SS
    11. Re:IHBT. IHL. I should just FOAD. by what+the+dumple+is · · Score: 1

      I am having a similiar issue. I have three hard drives, a dvd rom and a cd rom. Under 2.4.18, 2.4.20, 2.5.59 everything worked wonderfully... under 2.6test3 it won't mount /dev/hdg... it says it can't read the ext3 filesystem. But if I drop back to 2.5.59 and earlier it will mount the drive just fine at boot time. All of the kernels were compiled with the exact same options for ide, raid and what have you.

      Actually, I can mount hdg1 under 2.6 which is formatted as ext2. BUT, I cannot mount hdg2 which is ext3. The odd thing is...hda and hdb are ext3 as well and 2.6 doesn't have a problem with those drives.

    12. Re:IHBT. IHL. I should just FOAD. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In the end, I had to go back one release. No big deal. I just wanted a REAL Linux kernel, as opposed to a Hed Rat one.

      Actually it might be a big deal, considering the exploitable ptrace bug in 2.4.20... ;)

    13. Re:IHBT. IHL. I should just FOAD. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      this is actually covered in a howto, I think on slackware they are hidden in /usr/doc or something.

      you took all the fun out of it by straight out telling him. you will never be a true bsd zealot if you keep this up.

    14. Re:IHBT. IHL. I should just FOAD. by usotsuki · · Score: 1

      I call "security through obscurity". They'd have to know my ever-changing IP to r00t me.

      -uso.

      --
      Dreams, dreams, don't doubt dreams, dreaming children's dreaming dreams. Sailor Moon SS
    15. Re:IHBT. IHL. I should just FOAD. by usotsuki · · Score: 1

      No matter, I've patched it. Not much of a STFW either.

      -uso.

      --
      Dreams, dreams, don't doubt dreams, dreaming children's dreaming dreams. Sailor Moon SS
    16. Re:IHBT. IHL. I should just FOAD. by what+the+dumple+is · · Score: 1

      actually, in my scenario 2.4.20 cfdisk reports /dev/hg1 as ext2 and /dev/hdg2 as ext3 BUT under 2.6 it reports BOTH as EZ Drive (55). I can still mount /dev/hdg1 as ext2. ??

      I changed it from EZ Drive (55) to Linux (83) and it reported /dev/hdg1 as ext2 and /dev/hdg2 as simply Linux.

      Booting to 2.4 after the change and now /dev/hdg2 cannot be mounted under 2.4.20 either :/

      I switched back to 2.6 and ran cfdisk changing the partitions back to EZ Drive (55). Back in 2.4.20 cfdisk reports /dev/hdg1 as ext2 and /dev/hdg2 as ext3. The drive mountes normally.

    17. Re:IHBT. IHL. I should just FOAD. by penguin7of9 · · Score: 1

      You can add a file for swapping. Look at the manual pages for "mkswap" and "swapon".

  28. Sco License - Does it cover crashes? by ospirata · · Score: 3, Funny

    I wonder if I can tell SCO off because of the kernel panic I am getting with this new release. Btw, I own a SCO License

  29. Small upgrade fee by DarlFromSCO · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hay, don't forget to pay us the small upgrade license fee.

    --
    IP law confuses me. I am persuaded slashdot readers who read this sig now legally owe me 699$
    1. Re:Small upgrade fee by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hay?

      HAY?

      Hay is for horses!

    2. Re:Small upgrade fee by soulsteal · · Score: 1

      Hay, don't forget...

      Hay is for horses and cows. Please don't eat it, you don't know how.

  30. For that desktop box, try the 2.6.0 kernels... by sonicattack · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I've been running the -mm series of the 2.6.0-testX kernel since they started coming out, and I'd recommend anyone not running a critical system (where stability is of high importance) to try them out. Some of the main improvements easily noticeable are in the scheduling / Disk I/O areas, which makes interactive (desktop) usage much smoother. For instance, problems I've had with the 2.4 series where a system under high disk usage made the desktop jerky, and sometimes slowed down to a crawl, I have yet to see with these new kernels.

    Sure, I've stumbled upon an occasional bug in the process, and once after upgrading found the kernel unbootable, but with help from the kernel newsgroups, a quick fix could always be found. Besides that, I've found these kernels to be as stable as the 2.4-series..

    And, don't forget, the more people running the soon-to-be-stable kernel, reporting bugs as they are found, the ... sooner it'll be stable! :)

    1. Re:For that desktop box, try the 2.6.0 kernels... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For people still running 2.4 and having the same problems with desktop usage, consider the Con Kolivas patches, they speed things up a great deal while under high load.

    2. Re:For that desktop box, try the 2.6.0 kernels... by ArmorFiend · · Score: 1
      which makes interactive (desktop) usage much smoother
      Dude, are you using a Cavemanalon-negative-100 processor? I have a very humble system (450 Mhz K6, 256mb ram, 2.4 kernel), and I just don't see how it could get any more "smooth".
    3. Re:For that desktop box, try the 2.6.0 kernels... by Otter · · Score: 1

      Either you're only running a lot of rxvt shells in Fluxbox or you're a genius at optimizing your system. Most of us running a recent KDE or GNOME desktop with moderate load on that hardware would very quickly spot room for improvement in responsiveness, smoothness and repaints.

    4. Re:For that desktop box, try the 2.6.0 kernels... by swillden · · Score: 1

      For people still running 2.4 and having the same problems with desktop usage, consider the Con Kolivas patches, they speed things up a great deal while under high load.

      Unfortunately, the ck patches cause other problems for me. The main one is an odd duplication of keystrokes, most noticeable when I use a shortcut that causes a bit of computation. For example, when I'm using tabbed browsing on Konqueror and press "Ctrl-W" to close the current tab, often two, three or more tabs will get closed, and sometimes it will blast through all of the tabs and close the window.

      Rebuilding my kernel without the ck patches (but with preempt and lowlatency) makes the problem go away. I've seen it with both the 2.4.20 and 2.4.21 kernels.

      I have no such problem with 2.6.0, and it feels even smoother than 2.4.x+ck.

      --
      Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
    5. Re:For that desktop box, try the 2.6.0 kernels... by nvrrobx · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I have to agree with you fully on this one.

      I'm running 2.6.0-test3-mm on my dual PIII 600 box. It's not a fast machine, but with 2.6.0 it feels downright snappy. (The machine is a Dell Precision 210M Workstation - 384 megs of PC100 RAM, a 5400 RPM hard drive, GeForce4 Ti 4200 card)

      The system as a whole feels a lot faster than it did with 2.4.x.. Of course, I have no real perf numbers to throw at you, but I'm really impressed with 2.6. VMware and WineX has some issues with 2.6 (CD-ROM access doesn't like to work correctly)

      Also, the new kernel build process is much more streamlined, and building a kernel doesn't seem to take as long. The output is even prettier. :)

    6. Re:For that desktop box, try the 2.6.0 kernels... by Vlad_the_Inhaler · · Score: 1

      I made exactly one attempt.
      It was presumably the kernel you describe as 'unbootable' - (2.6.0-test2 in my case).
      There are not many Via C3 processors around, maybe the reason it would not boot was in that area.

      --
      Mielipiteet omiani - Opinions personal, facts suspect.
    7. Re:For that desktop box, try the 2.6.0 kernels... by sonicattack · · Score: 1

      Sorry that you got bitten on "first attempt".

      Well, 2.6.0-test4-mm1 is out, perhaps you would consider giving that one a try? :)

    8. Re:For that desktop box, try the 2.6.0 kernels... by ArmorFiend · · Score: 1

      Hm, perhaps there lies the difference. I typically run:

      Window-maker
      Mozilla
      Emacs
      some common lisp core
      coupla gnoterms
      maybe xmms or something like that

    9. Re:For that desktop box, try the 2.6.0 kernels... by Vlad_the_Inhaler · · Score: 1

      I was downloading 2.6.0-test4 vanilla as I posted that, got it up and running just now at the second attempt. It does not run smoothly - things freeze up every few seconds and then resume after about 2 seconds. Maybe I should turn that low-latency coding on.

      At least it boots :-)

      --
      Mielipiteet omiani - Opinions personal, facts suspect.
  31. Crypto API by njchick · · Score: 5, Interesting

    For the first time we have cryptographic API in a stable released version of the Linux kernel. Until recently, cryptographic software could not be exported from the U.S. without a special permission. It took some time to explain to the government that the "bad guys" already have access to strong encryption. We have succeeded. Cryptographers, rejoice!

    1. Re:Crypto API by kevin_conaway · · Score: 0, Troll

      why do we want a crypto api inside the kernel? shouldnt that be outside the kernel? what happens when there is a bug in the api, you have to recompile your kernel? thats ridiculous. download openssl and use that

    2. Re:Crypto API by zoloto · · Score: 1

      That's great, what is this cryptographic software you speak of?

    3. Re:Crypto API by JCCyC · · Score: 1

      Two words: encrypted filesystems.

    4. Re:Crypto API by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      1) Hardware crypto cards
      2) Encrypted partitions
      3) IPSec

      For encrypted partitions and IPSec, you have always had to patch the kernel, so placing it in the kernel reduces the number of steps needed to get crypto going.

      4) OpenBSD has it in the kernel (sorry for the cynicism)

    5. Re:Crypto API by iggymanz · · Score: 5, Funny

      It took some time to explain to the government that the "bad guys" already have access to strong encryption

      you must mean those damn Canadians

    6. Re:Crypto API by vadim_t · · Score: 1

      It's used for encrypted filesystems (used through loopback) and swap

    7. Re:Crypto API by Vantage13 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      yeah, but is the cryptoloop module included or is that still a separate patch?

    8. Re:Crypto API by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Another two words: Crypto Hardware

      If an API exists to do DES, for instance, then kernel modules can use a DES hardware chip to accomplish it, if your box doesn't have a crypto chip, the API is the same. Likewise for SSL and any number of other things.

  32. Fast moderation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Maybe the moderator is a subscriber, and saw your post before you submitted it.

  33. Re:Kernel design/architecture. by shaitand · · Score: 5, Funny

    ok here is the short:

    Linux = good
    BSD = good
    NT = bad
    proprietary Unix = good but expensive
    BeOS = bad
    Plam = wtf is plam?

    here is a comparison:

    Linux VS NT = linux wins
    bsd vs nt = bsd wins
    anything vs NT = anything wins
    bsd vs linux = linux wins
    proprietary unix vs linux = linux wins but it's a tight race
    bsd vs proprietary unix = bsd wins again a tight race won by price and development model ;)
    plam vs anything = again wtf is plam?

  34. YOU FAIL IT!!!!! by usotsuki · · Score: 1

    I had no problem whatsoever extracting a vanilla 2.4.20 over RH8.

    What modules or services do you need? make menuconfig and make sure that they are selected. Is it THAT hard?

    -uso.
    n00b kernel compiler.

    --
    Dreams, dreams, don't doubt dreams, dreaming children's dreaming dreams. Sailor Moon SS
    1. Re:YOU FAIL IT!!!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      And how do you know what millions of services and modules you need?!?!?!?

      The fucking boot sequence seems to want every fucking module in the distribution? Oh, you want me to compile everything?

    2. Re:YOU FAIL IT!!!!! by usotsuki · · Score: 1

      I didn't have to add that much stuff. USB I think, and the i810 RTC/RNG, and I think that was all.

      -uso.

      --
      Dreams, dreams, don't doubt dreams, dreaming children's dreaming dreams. Sailor Moon SS
  35. Don't be like a fascist by axxackall · · Score: 0, Offtopic
    GO BACK TO INDIA

    Assuming you don't like the grand-parent's English, he might be from Europe (not UK), Africa (not South one), Asia (not Hink Kong), or Latin America. And in average Indians know English better than in any other regions I have already mentioned above.

    BTW, the guy might just have typed wrong: "is" instead of "it".

    --

    Less is more !
  36. New Gentoo User... by JAZ · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    So I've been running Gentoo for about 2 weeks now.... I've loving it.

    But how long do I expect before I see this in the portage tree?

    --


    "Karma can only be portioned out by the cosmos." -- Homer Simpson
    1. Re:New Gentoo User... by proj_2501 · · Score: 1

      probably a day or so. kernel 2.4.21 took a little while, probably because of all these slashbots sucking the new kernel all at once before the mirrors have a copy :)

    2. Re:New Gentoo User... by SnowDeath · · Score: 1

      2.4.22? Could be a little while, maybe a couple weeks - Gentoo developers, at least kernel-wise, tend to apply all the best patches to the kernels all the time anyway. Basically, if you are running a new kernel that says 2.4.20-r7 or the like, chances are that all the new patches in the vanilla 2.4.22 are already built into your current kernel.

    3. Re:New Gentoo User... by twistedcubic · · Score: 1

      I've always thought it strange that the kernel is in the portage tree. I understand that certain packages depend on certain kernels, but I usually just download the kernel and install like I always did.

    4. Re:New Gentoo User... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      2.4.22 or 2.6?
      2.6 is already there.

    5. Re:New Gentoo User... by scotch · · Score: 1

      Maybe you should ask your question on a GENTOO mailing list or newsgroup?

      --
      XML causes global warming.
  37. Re:Direct mirror on PSU by skaeight · · Score: 0

    Too bad they limit carroll's external connections to 25 on http and 25 on ftp from 9am - 5 pm. If you're on campus that's a great solution though.

  38. You forgot to add... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    You forgot to add the lines

    /**
    This code is GPL'ed for everyone except SCO.
    **/

  39. Re:Kernel design/architecture. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is it just me, or does this sound like someone's homework assignment. "Please prepare a 15 minute presentation on the differences between various kernels in use today"...

  40. NT kernel has glaring problem... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...with how it implements file locks within both native and installable filesystems. This is the reason why doing any system changes requires reboots so much. There has been much discussion about this topic, do a google search and you will find much reading material on the matter.

  41. Parameters by phorm · · Score: 1

    Are you using a SCSI drive, or RAID? If so, remember to compile in support for your drive to the kernel (non-modules).
    Alternately, check that support for your IDE drive hasn't been acdidentally deselected.

  42. Re:Kernel design/architecture. by F2F · · Score: 1

    Plan [sic] 9 rules. Everything else is not already dead, but is starting to smell bad.

  43. So! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    that's why SCO is up!!!!!
    It's great to see that they don't even use Unix ware!

    rtr-es# nmap -P0 -sT -O -v www.sco.com

    Starting nmap V. 3.00 ( www.insecure.org/nmap/ )
    Host c7pub-216-250-140-112.center7.com (216.250.140.112) appears to be up ... go
    od.
    Initiating Connect() Scan against c7pub-216-250-140-112.center7.com (216.250.140 .112)
    Adding open port 80/tcp
    Adding open port 443/tcp
    The Connect() Scan took 254 seconds to scan 1601 ports.
    For OSScan assuming that port 80 is open and port 6000 is closed and neither are
    firewalled
    For OSScan assuming that port 80 is open and port 6000 is closed and neither are
    firewalled
    WARNING: OS didn't match until the try #2
    Interesting ports on c7pub-216-250-140-112.center7.com (216.250.140.112):
    (The 1588 ports scanned but not shown below are in state: filtered)
    Port State Service
    80/tcp open http
    443/tcp open https
    6000/tcp closed X11
    6001/tcp closed X11:1
    6002/tcp closed X11:2
    6003/tcp closed X11:3
    6004/tcp closed X11:4
    6005/tcp closed X11:5
    6006/tcp closed X11:6
    6007/tcp closed X11:7
    6008/tcp closed X11:8
    6009/tcp closed X11:9
    6050/tcp closed arcserve
    Remote operating system guess: Linux 2.1.19 - 2.2.20
    Uptime 265.752 days (since Mon Dec 2 20:00:35 2002)
    TCP Sequence Prediction: Class=random positive increments
    Difficulty=2103535 (Good luck!)
    IPID Sequence Generation: Busy server or unknown class

    Nmap run completed -- 1 IP address (1 host up) scanned in 268 seconds

    1. Re:So! by DashEvil · · Score: 1

      2.1.x -> 2.2.x you say? That's interesting, one would believe that after SCO called 2.2 a 'hobbiest' at best OS, and that they should legally have a valid license to 2.4.x->2.6.x ( :p ) that they would be using it. But, uh, yeah, whatever. :P

      --
      -If God wanted people to be better than me, he would have made them that way.
  44. Re:What IS NEW!!! by rootofevil · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    what? no support for the evil bit?

    --
    turn up the jukebox and tell me a lie
  45. Re:Kernel design/architecture. by temojen · · Score: 1

    Operating System Concepts
    Silberschatz & Galvin
    Addison-Wesley

    I reccommend both the Fourth and Fifth edition. The Fourth Edition (ISBM 0-201-50480-4) has a section on The Mach System (aka the core of MacOS X & Next) The Fifth Edition (ISBN 0-201-59113-8) has a section on Windows NT, and a section on Linux (2.0).

  46. A word of Advice by Hal+The+Computer · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    No, but you'd better run. This is Slashdot after all.

    /me Polishes his pitchfork and lights his torch.

    ;-)

    --

    int main(void){int x=01232;while(malloc(x));return x;}
  47. Re:Kernel design/architecture. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Well, you heard wrong. The NT kernel is not good. It's faculty for determining timeslices and aggregating CPU time is convoluted at best. It is all designed to make user level timeslice requests (ie GUI events) occur more quickly. The solution provided by NT kernel is a timeslice lookup matrix with more elements than I can currenly remember to cound (something like 3 levels with 11 sublevels for each).
    When compared to the Linux or even Solaris CPU timeslice allocationg, it is horribly overcomplicated and slow and clunky.

  48. Cmedia Bug Fix by ciroknight · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Anyone know if the new kernel has been fixed for the C-Media 9738 AC97 Codec? Last time I checked Alan Cox "patched" this in 2.4.21 and my integrated sound didn't work. I know this has gotta be a pretty big problem.. my board was pretty popular (K7S6A)...

    --
    "Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is." G.W.Bush
    1. Re:Cmedia Bug Fix by Vlad_the_Inhaler · · Score: 3, Informative

      Changelog is your friend.
      Summary of changes from v2.4.22-pre5 to v2.4.22-pre6

      snip
      o fix a race in the plugin api for ac97
      o example ac97 plugin codec
      Then, a bit earlier (lower down in the Changelog) and also from Alan:
      o update AC97 codec core
      o switch cards to new ac97_audio
      o switch i810 to generalised digital out, new ac97
      o ac97 updates
      o update trident, fix printks, new ac97
      o Update via audio - fix problems esd, mpg321
      o update to new ac97_codec
      o update ac97 codec headers

      --
      Mielipiteet omiani - Opinions personal, facts suspect.
  49. Guide to installing a new linux kernel by bigberk · · Score: 3, Informative

    This short guide walks you through the steps used to compile and install a new 2.4 kernel.

    1. Re:Guide to installing a new linux kernel by Hard_Code · · Score: 1

      That's nice, but should be upgraded to describe modifying the grub.conf (which is just as easy if not easier), as grub is now the modern boot loader.

      --

      It's 10 PM. Do you know if you're un-American?
    2. Re:Guide to installing a new linux kernel by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Ugh. I tried that method. What a way to waste a weekend. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out exactly which mods I needed for what. After a fully day of hacking I got everything working except the USB mouse.

      The next day I discovered "make oldconfig". It's was pretty easy once I understood that. Too bad I'd been reading a short guide. Please don't punish any more people by propogating it.

  50. I thought Linus was in charge of Linux? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Isn't he the boss of this, no? How does anyone expect traction to get hold in the app department if there are different incompatible kernels being released willy nilly by rogue programmers. Linus needs to squash these people post haste!!!

    1. Re:I thought Linus was in charge of Linux? by lederhosen · · Score: 4, Informative

      No he is not, he is the boss of the 2.6 releases.

    2. Re:I thought Linus was in charge of Linux? by KingRamsis · · Score: 1

      leh bas sab el deen ya a7' ?

    3. Re:I thought Linus was in charge of Linux? by floydman · · Score: 1

      seebo ya 3am yeseb we yel3an zay mahoo 3ayez, lama 2.6.22 tenzel 2eb2a seb enta

      --
      The lunatic is in my head
    4. Re:I thought Linus was in charge of Linux? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The day I have to see Nazi propaganda in a .sig link on Slashdot is a sad day indeed. And don't tell me it isn't Nazi propaganda - if it weren't, the producers would not use swastika-lookalikes as logos. Shame on you

    5. Re:I thought Linus was in charge of Linux? by KingRamsis · · Score: 1

      to you : FUCK OFF...and die troll

      for the remaining /.ers reading this post : this is free speech and by no means a nazi propaganda, just because some fucktard thinks that their logo is "swastika-lookalikes" said fucktard should get his/her eyes examined.

      thank you ladies and gents that all for tonight.

    6. Re:I thought Linus was in charge of Linux? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I suggest you get your eyes and brain examined. If the logos at the top of this site http://zundelsite.org/ez.html are not swastika-lookalikes, then there never existed any. I mean, come on, who are you kidding?

      And even if we sweep this issue aside, the whole site SCREAMS "we are Nazi assholes who start to whine if anyone stands up against us". Free speech, my ass. I think I need to puke. You know, in the cities I lived in, I've seen enough people beaten up or killed by those same Nazi assholes who believe the Zundel- and Leuchter-bullshit, just for looking "wrong". And now you want free speech for them! Of course, they can have it, free speech is for everyone. But SHAME ON YOU still stands

    7. Re:I thought Linus was in charge of Linux? by KingRamsis · · Score: 1

      And even if we sweep this issue aside

      ahh you realized that you are an asshole and that the logo on the site represents a "Z" letter not the four branches of swastika, a symbol is a symbol stupid there is nothing called "lookalike" symbol.

      and it is *STILL* free speech so eat your heart out loser, Zundel is entitled to his views just like you are entitled to yours, Shame on you for prosecuting someone for their beliefs, it is ok for a man to question if God exists or not as much as it is ok for a man to question the holocaust as much as it is ok for a man to question if earth is round it is called FREEDOM of SPEECH.

    8. Re:I thought Linus was in charge of Linux? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      ahh you realized that you are an asshole
      No, I tried to demonstrate to you that even if we leave the logo issue aside, there is still ample proof that it's a fucking Nazi site
      the logo on the site represents a "Z" letter
      You are a moron. Are you not capable of looking under the surface? Obviously you have never educated yourself about the subject. Even so, to anybody capable of calculating 1+1=2, the use of red, white and black for the logo is a sure giveaway. The internet and the Nazi scene, especially in countries were use of the swastika is forbidden, is full of stylized swastikas to circumvent the law. I'd give a link list, but I don't want to spread the propaganda or cause any site hits. Google's there for you
      there is nothing called "lookalike" symbol
      I see, the concept of similarity has not occurred to you yet, much less the idea that similarity can be used to evoke remembrance of the original. Congrats, you've nullified at least large parts of modern popular culture, probably more than that. All those cheap Coca-Cola-knockoffs sporting white, red, and a curly font will thank you for showing them the folly of their ways
      and it is *STILL* free speech
      That's what I said - free speech is for everyone
      Zundel is entitled to his views
      Look, even though I live in Germany, I am not in favor of the so-called "Verbotsgesetz" that forbids use of Nazi symbols, denying of the Holocaust and all tries to rebuild the NSDAP. I am in favor of free speech. But there's a difference between arguing that it should be allowed to distribute Nazi propaganda (which I do; I also think the citizenry and the state are responsible for debunking it in daily contest) and actually distributing Nazi propaganda which is what you do. And for that you should be ashamed.

      FWIW, all this Zundel and Leuchter bullshit is easy to debunk and in fact has been debunked so many times it hurts. The only ones still spreading this bull are hardcore Nazis.
      Shame on you for prosecuting someone for their beliefs
      I don't and never have said it should be done

  51. Current bandwidth utilization 114.70 Mbit/s by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    *YAWN* come on /.

  52. Re:FSF and RMS paralyzed against SCO's lawsuit. by Christianfreak · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    10 seconds? Wow it only took me 3 to see that you're a troll.

  53. Re:What IS NEW!!! by BillKaos · · Score: 3, Informative

    Sorry, this is an incomplete list for the 2.6 series, while the kernel released is 2.4.22. For a almost complete list of features going into 2.6 you can see Linux Kernel 2.6 Status

  54. For those of us unenlightened by Matey-O · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Okay, we've got a new kernel. That's cool. I've built kernels before in the past...in the past.

    Now with RH9, every time I try to make a custom kernal it pooches the system mightily. I'll lose video, or I won't get power, or it'll give LOTS of errors when starting up because I didn't have a Makefile just like Redhat's magic one.

    So how would a person compile 2.4.22 and still have the same support as whatever RH9 based build they're currently running?

    --
    "Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus."
    1. Re:For those of us unenlightened by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Get the source RPM for the kernel from your Red Hat disks. The .config is "in there", you can extract it using alien to convert the RPM to a tgz. That said, I don't know what patches Red Hat has applied to the stock kernel, likely several. I know SuSE includes the patches in the kernel source RPM maybe Red Hat does the same.

    2. Re:For those of us unenlightened by DrWhizBang · · Score: 4, Informative

      Building a Custom Kernel.

      enjoy!

      i tried several times to compile a kernel on redhat until i realized that they have changed things a bit, and you need to follow their docs.

      --
      Schrodinger's cat is either dead or really pissed off...
    3. Re:For those of us unenlightened by digitalhermit · · Score: 3, Informative

      Since RedHat adds a bunch of patches you'll need to start with the Linus source that the RedHat kernel is based upon, then add the patches from that kernel to bring it up to the new.

      It's not exactly easy.

      There will be hundreds of files that change from the stock kernel to the RedHat kernel. Then there are the hundreds more that change from the stock release to the next stock release.

      Your best option is to use a kernel from the RedHat beta releases then recompile it for the current. These will *usually* work, but there are no guarantees. It's pretty simple to rebuild a kernel RPM:

      rpmbuild --rebuild --target=athlon kernel-2.4.22-20.9.src.rpm

    4. Re:For those of us unenlightened by i_am_nitrogen · · Score: 1

      Try cp /boot/config /usr/src/linux-2.4.22/ (or wherever you have those files).

      That should set your kernel up with Redhat's configuration, minus whatever patches Redhat applies to the kernel.

    5. Re:For those of us unenlightened by Wolfrider · · Score: 1

      --If RedHat can't use a stock Linus kernel, then *I* personally would switch to another distro. I started out with RH like practically everybody else back in like 1997-98, played around with Mandrake, ran SuSE for a few years, and now I'm in love with Debian because of Knoppix.

      --
      .
      == WolfriderV6 == I'm willing to admit that *I just might* be wrong... Are you??
  55. You mean like this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Da kernel be da damn essential centa' o' some doodad opuh'atin' system, da co'
    dat provides basic services 4 all otha' parts o' da damn opuh'atin' system.
    Some synonym be nucleus. Some kernel kin be contrasted wit' some shell, da
    outermost part o' some opuh'atin' system dat interacts wit' usa' commands.
    Kernel an' shell be terms 'esploited mo' frequent-like in Unix an' some kinda'
    otha' opuh'atin' systems dan in I-B-fuckin'-M mainframe systems.

    Typical-like, some kernel (down low, o' no comparable centa' o' some opuh'atin'
    system) includes some interrupt handla' dat handles all requests o' completed
    I/O opuh'ashuns dat battle 4 da kernel's services, some schedula' dat
    determines which rehabs share da damn kernel's processin' time in whut orda',
    an' some supuh'visor dat actual-like gives 'esploit o' da damn doodad t'aich
    process when it be scheduled. Some kernel may also include some managa' o' da
    damn opuh'atin' system's address spaces in memory o' storage, sharin'
    dese-he'ah among all components an' otha' usa's o' da damn kernel's services.
    Some kernel's services be requested by otha' parts o' da damn opuh'atin' system
    o' by applicashun through some specified set o' rehab interfaces sometimes
    known as system calls.

    Becuz da code dat makes down da kernel be needed continuous-like, it be
    usual-like loaded into doodad storage in some arai dat be protected so's dat it
    aint gonna be overlaid wit' otha' less frequent-like 'esploited parts o' da
    damn opuh'atin' system.

    Da kernel aint t' be confused wit' da damn Basic Input/Output System (down low,
    B-I-O-fuckin'-S).

    Some kinda' kernels have been developed independent-like 4 'esploit in no
    opuh'atin' system dat be hankerin' t'esploit it. Right on! Some well-known
    'esample be da damn Mach kernel, developed at Carnegie-Mellon University, an'
    current-like 'esploited in some version o' da damn Linux opuh'atin' system 4
    Apple's Powermac doodads.

    1. Re:You mean like this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Right on brother.

  56. 2.6.0-test4 out too by evilned · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Just saw that 2.6.0-test4 is out. Been using test-3 with a patch akmp patch for the APIC on the nforce2, and have loved the results. X is more responsive, sound is much less likely to skip when the disk is in use. Havent found out if they included that patch in test-4, so if anyone knows, please reply.

    --

    "My head hurts, My feet stink, and I dont love Jesus." -Jimmy Buffett

  57. Re:FSF and RMS paralyzed against SCO's lawsuit. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You are a little bit full of bias eh ?

  58. Americans can't helping being fascist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Don't blame him, Americans are naturally fascist.

    They can't really help it., they are basically brainwashed from birth.

    1. Re:Americans can't helping being fascist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Haha, did you know that those who pay see IP's of AC's? Damn man you are lame.

    2. Re:Americans can't helping being fascist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      G. W. Bush's secrete police

      Oh my god! I just hope they won't secrete their nasty bodily fluids on me!

    3. Re:Americans can't helping being fascist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't you know only no life suckas subscribe to slashdork?

  59. Why why why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Is this some evil plot by SCO? Why have we slashdotted kernel.org?? OH THE HUMANITY!!

  60. Re:What's the point (Vanilla kernels in redhat) by alpharoid · · Score: 3, Informative

    Here's what you can do to use vanilla kernels in RedHat. It may not be the easiest route, but it works like a charm every time.

    1) Enter your regular redhat kernel source directory. Everything should be preconfigured, unless you changed things;

    2) make menuconfig, then Save Configuration to Alternate File. Pick a name you'll remember;

    3) Exit menuconfig, enter vanilla kernel directory;

    4) make menuconfig, Load an Alternate Configuration File. Enter the name of the previous config, with full path.

    5) Profit! You might want to check any new options just for fun (such as built-in crypto for this kernel release), but it isn't necessary.

    Your new kernel should now run just fine under RedHat, with a minimum of fuss. It'll be a long compile, though, because even the kitchen sink will be included. Still, it's more work for the computer and less work for you.

  61. microsoft will benefit from this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Since they used linux recently to protect themselves from their own junk OS:

    http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid= 74 &e=20&u=/cmp/13100775

  62. Re:Kernel design/architecture. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Well, you can complain about the implementation, but can you complain about the results? (Especially as Linux is still being hacked like crazy for 'interactivity'.)

  63. Re:GO BACK TO INDIA! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Maybe you should go back to Alabama, since you can't even spell Microsoft.

    I mean seriously, what kind of lame racist bastard are you? Are you the type that wears sheets and goes around burning crosses?

    Maybe your daddy is also your brother, and quite possibly this might have rendered your brain retard.

    BTW, You can't check grammar, you can only proof it. There is no checking for grammar, it's not so tangible.

  64. ALL YOU GENTOO USERS SUCK BIG FLOPPY DONKEY DICK!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  65. Re:What IS NEW!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hotplug CPU Removal Support and Kernel Probes

    Yes, but is it Free as in lube?

  66. Re:What IS NEW!!! by gniv · · Score: 1
    Nice job duplicating the bracketed references :)

    The patch that's most useful to me is a small fix in USB support for the Sony DSC-P series of digital cameras. No more custom kernels for me. So if you have such a camera, just plug it in and mount /dev/sda1 (if that's your only SCSI device). It's a mass storage device.

  67. Re:What IS NEW!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    try insmod

  68. Re:Don't forget... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Only had time for a half sentence before the short bus left?

  69. Re:GO BACK TO INDIA! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    He's probably American. In India they actually teach people how to use proper Queen's English, unlike you dirty mullet wearing brothers of mothers.

  70. Re:ALL GENTOO DEVELOPERS ARE 30-YEAR-OLD VIRGINS!! by SnowDeath · · Score: 1

    What, is the above AC a 40 year old debian dev by chance?

  71. In that case by Raul654 · · Score: 1

    I suggest removing the heat sink from your athlon and replacing it with a small plastic bag. In one step, you increase the amount of smokey goodness and help to keep it all contained.

    --


    To make laws that man cannot, and will not obey, serves to bring all law into contempt.
    --E.C. Stanton
  72. Re:FSF and RMS paralyzed against SCO's lawsuit. by antiMStroll · · Score: 1

    Holy shit, you mean you were serious? Take my advice and take the Troll label, you'll look better for it.

  73. Re:Kernel design/architecture. by Valar · · Score: 1

    It's a little technical but "Understanding the Linux Kernel" is good for a reference on how linux on x86 works. It's not very technical though, if you understand C code and a little asm. For a general overview on x86, Intel's (free!) third volume in the IA-32 development set is good, though it's more about what an OS could offer, not what they do offer. I don't really know of any way to get design docs for proprietary stuff, like NT.

  74. It is a management issue by FreeUser · · Score: 1

    I've always thought it strange that the kernel is in the portage tree. I understand that certain packages depend on certain kernels, but I usually just download the kernel and install like I always did.

    You can certainly do that if you like, with no ill effects. Gentoo is highly standards compliant where it makes sense, and makes reasonable extentions/extrapolations where the standards fall short. It is certainly easier to integrate a vanilla kernel into Gentoo than it is, say, Mandrake or Red Hat (though to be fair I'm sure they'll have their own, patched versions of 2.4.22 out very soon).

    However, when one is administering fifty or a hundred identical Gentoo boxes (or just 20, for that matter), it is nice to use the distribution's internal package management tool to manage software revisions for everything, including the kernel. This has advantages of, for example, being able to quickly deploy a new kernel ('sh myglobalscript.sh emerge vanilla-sources', where myglobalscript.sh does an ssh into all of the requisite boxes and runs the command I pass it), and manage it along with the rest of the software on the system in one seamless manner.

    This certainly isn't the only way to do it, but when you're managing in-house software, kernel revisions, and dozens of other important packages, having one interface (portage) to manage all of it is very handy. And, unlike many packaging systems, portage simply installs the tarball and gets out of the way (meaning one doesn't have to jump through lots of non-standard hoops in actually compiling and deploying the kernel). YMMV of course, but I find having the kernel, even the vanilla kernel, in portage to be quite useful.

    --
    The Future of Human Evolution: Autonomy
  75. don't... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... unless you really have to.

    What does those new kernels provide?
    - drivers for hardware you don't have?
    - bug fixes for modules that you don't use?
    - new features that won't probably matter anyway?

    In case that there actually is some nasty bug, RH probably will release security fix/patch. If you on the otherhand want to use the latest kernel, why don't you use distro that doesn't use custimized kernels?

    (How to build kernel for RH9? Look the post below/above)

    1. Re:don't... by Matey-O · · Score: 1

      Actually, in this case it was to patch the Orinoco drivers to work with kismet and do a little wardriving. Ended up just booting into XP and using netstumbler.

      --
      "Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus."
    2. Re:don't... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Funny, I did the exact opposite (although I wasn't using Orinoco drivers, but the D-Link G650 ones). It took me 2 minutes to fetch from CVS, build and load the module, then everything worked like a charm. I feel like I'm sounding like a damn commercial, but with a little knowledge - just a little - Linux is very rewarding. Never mind the trolls bitching about different distros, window managers and all that. Chose what you like and go with that. Help each other out once in a while.
      It really works, and it's definitely among the best alternatives.

  76. Getting 2.4.13 free from SCO by billstewart · · Score: 1

    ftp.sco.com has linux-2.4.13-21S.src.rpm from their OpenLinux distribution. It's free, and still available as of this morning (after the DoS ended...) Depending on your taste in distributions, you'll probably have to repackage it to use with whatever applications you need, and I don't know if there are any critical fixes after that. Sure, it's not as much fun as running 2.6.wildly.unstable, but it'll let you run a reasonably modern production environment.

    --

    Bill Stewart
    New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
  77. This is BS by irix · · Score: 3, Informative

    Someone mod this down ... it is a troll that has been posted before. These are some 2.5.X patches that will be in 2.6, nothing that is in 2.4.22. Read the real changelog that was linked from the article. Moderators ... wake up!

    --

    Do you even know anything about perl? -- AC Replying to Tom Christiansen post.
  78. Re:Kernel design/architecture. by DJ+Boom+Boom · · Score: 2, Informative

    I see that nobody bothered to answer your question. Offtopic posts seem to multiplying as fast as spam these days on Slashdot.

    BTW, have you heard of Google???

    BSD:
    http://freebsd.unixtech.be/doc/en_US.ISO88 59-1/boo ks/design-44bsd/

    Linux:

    http://www.kernelhacking.org/docs/kernelhacking- HO WTO/index.html

    http://cs.uml.edu/~cgould/

  79. other fixes by Trailer+Trash · · Score: 3, Funny

    Linux kernel. 2.4.22 was released early this morning and includes a lengthy list of fixes.

    all of which came from SCO's massive Pool of Intellectual Property.

  80. Subscribers see the IP numbers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    If this is true it is the worst betrayal of trust ever in the internet.

    Everybody knows that the porn sites fuck you up. Everybody knows that the spammers fuck you up.

    But if Slashdot has really fucked up the privacy of the anonymous posters like you suggest. the retaliation will be hard, fast and merciless.

  81. REMEMBER TO SLIT *DOWN* THE VEIN AND NOT ACROSS!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  82. Re:Kernel design/architecture. by thegoldenear · · Score: 1

    yes, we very well can complain, thankyou, when we consider using these operating systems on/as servers

  83. Re:Kernel design/architecture. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Currently holding up my laptop (I'm at a customer site) is the book "Inside OS/2" written by Gordon Letwin (with a foreward by Bill Gates). Classic, HILARIOUS stuff from the same inept programmers that brought you MS Bob and os security so tight you could drive a school bus through them. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

  84. Re:GO BACK TO INDIA! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    I mean seriously, what kind of lame racist bastard are you?

    Obviously a "geek" lame racist bastard. Why do you ask ?

  85. Mirrors Mirror by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Well the kernel.org website is unbearably slow, so yes use your mirrors... but here [google.com] is a better place to find what your local mirror is.

  86. Re:Kernel design/architecture. by Eric+Ass+Raymond · · Score: 1
    It is all designed to make user level timeslice requests (ie GUI events) occur more quickly.

    I had to read that twice. What's your point? Of course the interactive processes should be given a priority. I mean why would you want to freeze the GUI?

  87. HAR! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You're tellin' me! On top of that, I'm having trouble with blondes using my *NIX machine to download .tar files.

    You DO know what happens when blondes start downloading .tar files, don't you?

    You get tar remover all over the white-out on your monitor. :P

  88. Re:Ultimate Oxymoron by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    No actually its, Microsoft Works.

  89. Does this affect 2.5.x/2.6.x? by DroopyStonx · · Score: 0

    Forgive my ignorance, but.. If 2.5.x has been in development for a while and 2.6 is supposedly going to be released soon, how does a 2.4.x change work in that sense? Will 2.5.x automatically get this change, or do they have to duplicate those changes in all descendant kernels?

    --
    We have secretly replaced these Slashdot mods' sense of humor with a rusty nail. Let's see if they notice!!
    1. Re:Does this affect 2.5.x/2.6.x? by jcaplan · · Score: 3, Informative

      Forgiven.

      The changes will need to be dupicated from one series to the other.

      A change to the 2.4 series may be submitted to Linus for inclusion in 2.6, and added if he deems it worthy. The process also works the same way in the other direction. For instance, if Linus accepts a patch to the 2.6 series, then the 2.4 maintainer may choose to include a "backported" patch for the 2.4 series. Alan Cox (I believe) has been the 2.2 maintainer for a while now. (Remember the beloved stable 2.2 series?) If he feels a 2.4 series patch is essential he may backport it to 2.2.

      The decision to backport is not automatic, since applying all the patches from 2.6 back to 2.4 would yield ... 2.6. The general idea is to backport security, stability and driver patches and leave the architectural changes alone.

      -Jon

  90. Re:SUCK SATAN'S COCK IN HELL, YOU QUEER HORSEFUCKE by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Satan does not have a cock, Satan is evil and obviously a woman. As for the Horse...ever tried to get a female horse in the mood? It's tough business!

  91. Yes, but did they fix the modprobe/ptrace exploit? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is the ptrace race-condition vulnerability fixed? Are they planning on fixing it in the 2.2 branch as well? This is a *HUGE* security issue, and because of it, I have to severely limit shell accounts.

    Because of this issue, anyone who can exploit an unprivileged process can easily get root privileges on a default distro config. It's certainly more important than some whitespace convention in 2.5, or
    updates to JFS (which may or may not contain copyrighted code.)

    Well?

    Hello? Hellooooooooooooooo? We're approaching a year of having to put up with this major vulnerability.

    -Fred

  92. Fixes? Or new bugs? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    From the list of changes:

    Make strncpy clear the unused part of the destination

    This isn't a fix; it's a new bug. strncpy is not specified to do that.

    1. Re:Fixes? Or new bugs? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes it is. The C standard says: "If the array pointed to by s2 is a string that is shorter than n characters, null characters are appended to the copy in the array pointed to by s1, until n characters in all have been written."

      strncpy() sucks anyway, because it doesn't necessarily null terminate its target. This was originally designed for things like utmp entries, but people seem to think it gives them some sort of security. Unless they know to manually null terminate the target, it's a gigantic security risk.

  93. Mirror page slow too by fizbin · · Score: 1

    He would have noticed if he's trying to load the kernel.org page that shows him the mirrors...

    For what it's worth, those of us in the US should probably start with this list.

    Or better yet, the google cache of the top mirrors page and the
    google cache of the US mirrors page.

    Remember that images on those pages (little flags) are still sucking up the main kernel.org bandwidth.

  94. Except by fizbin · · Score: 1

    That many mirrors don't have 2.4.22 yet.

    Really - I'm trying to be good, but if the mirrors don't have it...

  95. Damn, you sound just like my Catholic priest! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And mikey likes it too!

  96. Re:Kernel design/architecture. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yeah, I'm sure that a guy who can't find his shift key diagnosed a scheduler problem on his NT server.

  97. The most significant change! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Alan Cox:
    o Alan CREDIT/MAINTAINERS update

    Andrea Arcangeli:
    o Andrea contact information update

    Bring on Sco - it looks like these guys know where the codes are coming from and they are all belog to us!

  98. SElinux and 2.6 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    is teh nsa selinux patch now in the mainline 2.6 kernel and why is there no announcement or such.

  99. Re:ALL GENTOO DEVELOPERS ARE 30-YEAR-OLD VIRGINS!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't know but I'm a 31-year old virgin and I use Debian GNU/Linux exclusively! ;)
    BTW, google for "the 41 year old virgin" for some fun reading.

  100. Re:REMEMBER TO SLIT *DOWN* THE VEIN AND NOT ACROSS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Lol, remember kids, it's down the road, not accross the street!

  101. No they don't! by Bluefire · · Score: 1
    It took some time to explain to the government that the "bad guys" already have access to strong encryption.
    The bad guys only used greek letter font you know :-)
    --
    My opinions may have changed, but not the fact that I am right
  102. SCO by eadint · · Score: 0

    Yep we want 699 for that one too
    hey where are the SCO posts, i need my righteous anger fix.

  103. uh, except for all the work by Cthefuture · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I've thought about upgrading since I normally like to run the latest stuff (plus I'm hoping 2.6 will fix the broken SBP2 driver).

    However, trying to get all my settings into this new kernel was not so easy (it was quite painful upgrading to 2.4 also). I'm running on a big laptop so I have a lot of special case hardware that had to be tweeked. Now, I've been a Linux user since the kernel was at 0.97 or so and I remember thinking how complicated all those kernel options were. Jump forward to today and damn, TOO MANY OPTIONS is all I can say. 99% of it I don't care about but I have to go through each one to make sure the kernel will work... agonizing. I wish the kernel could configure itself (a la Microsoft's "detecting and installing hardware").

    Combine that with trying to get nVidia drivers that work (yes, yes, there are patches and all kinds of crap I can spend time screwing around with).

    And then trying to get VMware to work on the new kernel...

    And so on...

    Well, let's just say I'm just sticking with 2.4 for now.

    --
    The ratio of people to cake is too big
    1. Re:uh, except for all the work by Filopopulus · · Score: 1

      How could a Kernel configure itself?

      Microsoft's Kernel doesn't configure itself. It just detects which hardware you are running and loads drivers appropriately. Plus the core kernel functions are there, immutable in the binary.

      So the closest you could come to that would be 1) a configuration file with lots of options and *lots* of modules 2) a program that would detect which hardware you are running and load the appropriate modules.

      And, basically, you already have that. At least the desktop oriented distributions come with a lot of stuff compilled as modules in an attempt to cover a very wide set of hardware and with reasonably broad builtin options. Then the installer detects your hardware and choses the correct modules.

  104. Re:Kernel design/architecture. by spyfrog · · Score: 1

    The dinasour book?

    Could anyone give me a hint why this book have dinosaurs on it?
    I have read it but I didn't grasp the dinasour bit..

  105. Another reason Linux cannot go mainstream by Bruha · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    For the exact instructions above we cannot get the average user to upgrade their systems.. Kernel updates are stil crypic under a normal GUI based upgrade and gives the end user no idea of any reason to update it.

  106. Re:Kernel design/architecture. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hey, YOU try to write a protected mode OS for the 80286 and have it run DOS programs. You'd probably be so pretty proud of your keyboard controller hardware reset haX0r that you'd write a book about it.

    Plus Letwin has that big ol' hacker beard thing going.

  107. I love the short yellow school bus! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Riding the bus is fun! I ride the bus to school every day, but I also ride the bus to other places, too. When I go on trips with Miss Lang and everybody in the special-needs class, we all get on the bus and go to the zoo or the planetarium. One time, we ate pizza at Pizza Hut, and we took the bus then, too. And you know what? Someday, I'm going to drive the bus myself!

    Sometimes, when I am on the bus, I hold my Dallas Cowboys hat in my hands and turn it and pretend that I am driving the bus. Sometimes, even when I am not on the bus, I also think about driving the bus, too. Even when I am sleeping, sometimes I have a dream that I'm driving the bus, and when I wake up, I am sad that I woke up and am not driving the bus anymore.

    Right now, I am only 13. But when I get older, I am going to be a grown-up and get a job as the bus driver. But I have to be a grown-up first. When you're a grown-up, you get a driver license with your picture on it. My older brother Mark said I don't need to worry about getting a driver license, because he will take me anywhere I want. But that is silly! I am going to get my own driver license and drive the bus! Mark reminded me what happened with my bicycle last year and said that maybe driving the bus isn't a good idea. But I know I can do it! I can drive the bus! I just need to work extra, extra, extra, extra hard!

    I'm going to always pay attention in my Skills For Living class. And I'm going to do all the exercises with Mr. Festge when he comes in for Motor-Coordination Hour. Even when I want to go look out the window at the lawn-mower man instead of sitting at my desk and doing my clock worksheet, I won't. I'll sit in my seat and be extra, extra, extra, extra good.

    Daryl W. was in our class last year, but he graduated at the end of the year because he was 18. He got to wear a graduation dress and walk up on the stage, and Mr. Culver gave him a book, and everybody in the whole place cheered. Now Daryl W. works at the grocery store, and he gets to use a sprayer and spray off the vegetables so they stay green. Just like Daryl W., I'm going to get a job when I'm older. Only my job is going to be being the bus driver!

    Right now, our bus driver is Mr. Timmons. And he gets paid for driving the bus! But it's so fun driving the bus, I would do it for free! Someday, it will be me being nice to all the kids on the bus and calling them "Mr." and "Mrs." to be funny. It will be me who helps everyone get their boots on and yells, "Look at the chickens!" when we drive past the ostrich farm.

    Every day on the bus, I am watching carefully so that when it is my job to drive the bus, I will remember which tree to turn at. When I am the bus driver, I'll get to wear a blue jacket that says "Walter" on it, just like the one Mr. Timmons wears. I'll keep it very clean and never put it on the floor of the bus where it can get dirty. I'll never leave a sandwich in the pocket, either, unless I plan to eat it that same day.

    I'll get to go and pick up all of my friends on the bus. Only, we won't just go where it says on the schedule. We'll get to go wherever we want, because I will be driving! If we see a dog on the side of the road, somebody will say, "Pull over!" and I will pull over, and we will all get out and pet the dog or even take him for a ride if he wants to go. I would go fast around the corners because it makes everybody laugh when their knapsacks fall on the floor. And when we go over the railroad tracks, I won't be a slow poke and stop even though there is no train coming.

    On Monday, I will drive to Hawaii, and on Tuesday, I will drive to the Super Bowl. And on all the other days, I will drive other places, too! At the end of the day, I will drive the bus back to the place where they keep all the buses at night, the place I saw when I fell asleep in the back of the bus that time. And I would get to look at all the buses in a row!

    I told my teacher Mr. Reese that I want to be a bus driver. He said maybe instead I should think about working

  108. SuSE kernel compilation by angryelephant · · Score: 1

    Does anyone know of a guide for how to modify a vanilla kernel for use with SuSE? I'm not just talking "make menuconfig; make bzImage; make RTFM...". I'm talking which patches to apply, standard configuration options, how to get all the niggling things like 802.11 and DRI to work. that or an rpm or tarball that can do the above.

  109. Re:Kernel design/architecture. by Master+Bait · · Score: 1

    Problem is when you spend too much time deciding if the timeslice request is from the gui or if it is from your ethernet interrupt or if it is from your game port or if it is from your disk drive, keyboard, frying pan, toilet, telephone, tea kettle, tissue paper dispenser, trackball, Bob, etc. etc.

    --
    "Only in their dreams can men truly be free 'twas always thus, and always thus will be."
    --Tom Schulman
  110. Mad Hatter by ratfynk · · Score: 1

    With the Sun in now so close to mercury and the earth now bieng bombarded by Kernel Penguin, Might I catch MadHatter disease if I try to make clean 2.4.22 just yet?

    --
    OH THE SHAME I fell off the wagon and use sigs again!
  111. Re:Yes, but did they fix the modprobe/ptrace explo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    Is the ptrace race-condition vulnerability fixed?

    Still running 2.4.20? Because .21 fixed that.

    It's certainly more important than some whitespace convention in 2.5, or
    updates to JFS (which may or may not contain copyrighted code.)


    Of course JFS contains copyrighted code... somebody had to write it. I think it was IBM. :-)

  112. The awnser is... by dark-br · · Score: 1

    Are you telling me that these people are incapable of describing in a sentence or two what their fix does?

    Yes :)

  113. Re:What IS NEW!!! by Sexy+Commando · · Score: 1

    Hope somebody can implement it and release it BSDed so Microsoft can benifit from evil bit too.

  114. Audigy 2 on ALSA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Does anybody know when or if the Audigy 2 will be supported by ALSA?

  115. Re:Yes, but did they fix the modprobe/ptrace explo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That was fixed ages ago you retard. Pay attention.

  116. Re:2.4 VS 2.6 Performance - and RPM by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I installed 2.4.22 today and it works fine. I'd been waiting for the IEEE-1394 fixes.

    After the talk of the 2.6-test4 kernel, I also installed that one. Everything seems fine - everythoing loads a LOT faster, and X is much snappier - except I can't read the RPM database (RedHat 9) when I boot to the 2.6-test4 kernel.

    What did I do wrong, of forget to copile in to the new 2.6-test-4 kernel to get it to work with RPM's???

    Not a newbie, but feel like one now...

  117. Torrent patch verified. by eddy · · Score: 1

    For what it's worth, I verified the patch archive and the signature was good.

    --
    Belief is the currency of delusion.
  118. IBM laptop DMA by Jenova · · Score: 1

    Great, lets see if this new release solves my IBM R40 notebook udma harddisk issue.

    Been using 2.4.21-AC-3 to enable udma a week or two,

  119. ACPI? by Roofus · · Score: 1

    ACPI? I don't know what it is, but I'm sure it works better on my Mac!

  120. WTF?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There's a STABLE linux?

    Wasnt that written by some college kid?

  121. Snigger snigger by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    o PPC32: Make strncpy clear the unused part of the destination

    Why? To lessen the effect of memory leaks and off-by-one bugs?

    BSD RULES!

  122. Hmm, Here's a better reason. by Bruha · · Score: 2, Interesting

    You show me one average user that can update their kernel.

    Can it pass the mom test? No, then point made.

    Kernel updates should be seamless and not break anything that you had compiled for the kernel..
    EG Nvidia drivers. I'd love to have my parents use Linux but if every time the updates are needed (although rare) I'd have to either ssh into the box or go there physically. Trust me you cant tell them how to do it over the phone (hard of hearing)

    Maybe that's the whole problem. Upgrades in windows have rarely caused problems. But on the other hand a simple update to Redhat 8 on a production server completely broke it requiring a backup to a older version. The system in question was a webserver and some security update rendered RPM unusable and some subset of RPM has to work for apache to work properly so we were screwed.

    I think it's time to get the devs of RPM, apt and all other major packaging programs and make them form a standard and stick with it. And whatever standard should work to where 1 package will work for all systems instead of such things like RPM where you have a rpm for every flavor and version of processor and distribution. EG Redhat RPM's and Mandrake RPM's.

    As processor speeds and faster subsystems make code compling a short trip instead of the long times it can take for bigger projects maybe source packages that compile on the target system into a correct rpm for that system/distro and installs itself. But for it to be tolerable you're looking at least 6ghz with solid state HD/PCI-X/XDDR-RAM wihtout any bottlenecks.

    Anyways I think I'm rambling now :) but many see the same problem and that's why Linux will work in corporations fine with correctly trained IT staff but not for the average home users.

  123. Re:Kernel design/architecture. by Arandir · · Score: 1

    Because the GUI is slow. Slow, slow slow. That is, slow compared to everything else. Do you really expect that checkmark to be repainted before anything else in the system happens? Do you really expect you can even notice it not happening in the time it takes your find to raise up from the mouse button? With a GUI you have a few milliseconds to spare, an enormous amount of time in the CPU.

    A GUI should never have top priority on a system. Your video decoding, maybe, but not the damn play button!

    --
    A Government Is a Body of People, Usually Notably Ungoverned
  124. How not to write a changelog entry by achurch · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Do you suppose they did anything with the AIC7xxx driver?

    o Aic7XXX and Aic79XX drivers
    o Aic79XX and Aic7xxx Drivers
    o Aic7XXX and Aic79XX Drivers
    o Aic7XXX and Aic79xx Drivers
    [...]
    o Aic7xxx Driver Update
    o Aic7xxx Driver Update
    o Aic79xx Driver Update
    o Aic79xx Driver Update
    o Aic7xxx Driver Update
    o Aic7xxx and Aic79xx Driver Update
    o Aic7xxx and Aic79xx driver Update
    o Aic7xxx Driver Update
    o Aic7xxx Driver Update
    o Aic79xx Driver Update
    o Aic7xxx and Aic79xx Driver Update
    o Aic7xxx Driver Update
    o Aic79xx Driver Update

  125. redhat 9.0 kernels by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ever since I've been using the kernels for RH 9, I've found I can't use my cd-rom driver because I get messages like "hdc: lost interrupt". This was no the case when I was using the 2.4.20 kernel (linus' tree). I have a hunch it's to do with IRQ's but have not the further technical knowledge to diagnose. Has anyone else had similar probs? Anyone know what I should do about it? (see below)

    Thanks to any help,
    Tim. (tim_allen AT optusnet DOT com DOT au)

    bash-2.05b$ cat /proc/interrupts
    CPU0
    0: 301781 XT-PIC timer
    1: 1250 XT-PIC keyboard
    2: 0 XT-PIC cascade
    3: 14 XT-PIC EMU10K1
    4: 914252 XT-PIC serial
    8: 1 XT-PIC rtc
    9: 0 XT-PIC usb-uhci
    11: 4 XT-PIC usb-uhci, eth0
    12: 51452 XT-PIC PS/2 Mouse
    14: 12074 XT-PIC ide0
    15: 20451 XT-PIC ide1

    I have hda on id0 and the cdrom (hdc) on ide1 along with my other hard driver (hdd)

  126. Re:Hmm, Here's a better reason. by Troed · · Score: 1

    Install RedHat 9. Start up2date - enter information. Edit up2date config (easy, within the program) and remove "kernel*" from the exclude list.

    Now kernel-updating is done in the same way everyting else - from the web with a few clicks with the mouse. Sure, you'll have to restart the machine aftwards (it's a new kernel .. ) but that's it.

  127. Re:FSF and RMS paralyzed against SCO's lawsuit. by penguin7of9 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I for my own after 10 years of open source and Linux am up to search for alternatives. A commercial OS may be better (better documentation, professional development, you can make a few bucks with your work, no pain, stable ABI and API and much more).

    Many of the people who are using open source are using it just for those reasons. In real life, APIs and ABIs to commercial software change rapidly because they are driven by marketing and business interests, documentation is costly and written for morons, you can't even look at the source when you are stuck, and you end up paying so much money for the privilege of using it that you won't be making any money on it.

    And commercial software has the unpleasant habit of simply disappearing from the market at the most inconvenient times or having its price skyrocket unexpectedly. Remember DEC? They're gone and a lot of their software. Remember NeXT? Absorbed by Apple, and all you can get is the OS X variant; hope you didn't bet on their PC version. Remember Taligent? NeWS? Smalltalk? Microsoft Java? OS/2? Amiga? Gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, and gone.

    GNU/GPL, FSF, prayer RMS they all should go to hell they are all paralyzed.

    The FSF does something about software they hold the copyright to. For the Linux kernel, the kernel copyright holders need to do something. Give it a few more months--these things take time.

    People stealing open source code and embedd it in closed source programs and nothing can be done against it.

    Yes, that's kind of annoying, but it isn't a threat to open source software. And sooner or later, those companies tend to get into trouble anyway.

  128. Re:Kernel design/architecture. by penguin7of9 · · Score: 1

    For example, I've heard that the NT kernel is actually quite good

    The NT kernel reminds me of the Ford Edsel: people rave about all the technically good things it supposedly does, but ultimately, it's not really a car most people would drive by choice.

    Simplicity of design and interfaces and cheap, low-tech solutions have their own value. Linux is more like the Japanese budget cars of yore: good, reliable transportation, while NT seems more like some US car company's technical pipe dream that just isn't coming together quite right. You can figure out yourself which one is likely to be better and more affordable transportation.

  129. Autoconfiguring, they were working on it... by Henk+Poley · · Score: 1

    ..in kernel 2.4 back in 2001

    http://sf.net/projects/kautoconfigure/
    -and-
    http://www.google.nl/search?q=kernel+autoconfigure

    Hope somebody revives the project someday...

  130. Re:Kernel design/architecture. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    PLAM is a modeling language designed to take advantage of the PROLOG programming environment. It is an algebraic modeler that allows the user to write their down their model in a more algebraic notation, similar to what AMPL and GAMS are capable of. PLAM can be used to format a model that can be shipped off to a variety of solvers. It is especially designed for Mixed-Integer Programming and Constraint Logic Programming. Should the user find there is not enough functionality in the PLAM package, they can use normal PROLOG constructs to help them write down the model. The user can use familiar PROLOG debuggers if the need arises. PLAM is free software.

  131. This will take more than 15 minutes, but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Knowing your chip's architecture helps greatly in understanding kernel architecture...
    I decided to read thru the Intel IA-32 Architecture Software Developer's Manuals (3vols) and the Optimization Guide (all available for FREE from intel's website -- either in pdf or in hardcopy). Volume 3 covers systems programming issues -- if you can get thru this volume, kernel programming will be a piece of cake. If you can get thru all 3 volumes plus the optimization guide, any documentation on various kernels will be vastly easier to follow.
    Similar manuals covering Intel's Itanium architecture are also available for free as well.
    Hey, they're free!!
    As for other architectures, well, I guess their respective chip makers's sites should have the documentation.

  132. Re:Kernel design/architecture. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I have the sixth edition of the book. Here is no section about Mach, but that section is online. It is found on http://cs-www.cs.yale.edu/homes/avi/os-book/osc/in dex.html
    There is also a chapter about FreeBSD also.

  133. Aha! I was waiting for this by sigmaIII · · Score: 1

    Kai Makisara: o Change Kai Makisara's email address So glad that finally made it in....

  134. Uh-oh by holviala · · Score: 1

    Once again, it happened... Put an empty machine on LAN, install Debian, download 2.4.21. Compile and install new kernel, then install Links to read news for a few minutes before the machine goes to production.

    While reading news notice that a 2.4.22 was released. That was like... 10 minutes after downloading and compiling 2.4.21.

    I'm afraid to even try compiling 2.4.22 now as 2.4.23 would surely be released before the end of the day.... .... then again, I wonder how long the kernel guys could possibly keep releasing new kernels while I'm in a middle of compiling the previous version.

  135. Sorry , I'm not trolling but... by Viol8 · · Score: 1

    ... just avoid RedHat. They're rapidly moving to a point of making their own proprietary version of Linux but making the distribution so reliant on extra bits they've put in themselves.
    I would suggest that next time you wish to upgrade your machine go Debian, Suse or if you're a techie person then Slackware.

  136. Missing my point... by gosand · · Score: 1
    Sure it does. You take your old config do a 'make oldconfig' and it'll prompt you for the new features. Then you just compile and install as usual. It's easy.

    I don't have a problem compiling a new kernel. I have done it before (back around Redhat 6.1). So I am not looking for some super-easy way to compile it. I want to know what is in it, in "plain English". I understand that there's a lot of technical stuff in there, and I don't expect it to be explained so I can completely understand every single modification. But how about two sections, one for the big features (like USB 2.0 support) and one for tweaks (optomized function blah, which you'll never see).

    I know that this info is kind of out there, if you look. I just wonder why it can't be put together and released with the official announcement. The information should come from the source, which IMO is the kernel maintainer. I think it would make people more likely to adopt a new kernel, without them having to wait until the update their distro. It isn't for the end user, not even close. I can't imagine that everyone else either is clueless and just upgrades their distro, or knows and understands everything that goes on with the kernel. I am somewhere in between. I could probably research it and figure it out, but couldn't the kernel maintainers just tell everyone what is in the new kernel? I would think they would want to promote it. Not marketoid speak, just good, informative release notes.

    --

    My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.

  137. Re:What IS NEW!!! by colinleroy · · Score: 1

    What fix is it ? I own a DSC-P51 and it works fine using usb-mass-storage on a 2.4.18 kernel...

    --
    blah
  138. Re:Kernel design/architecture. by shaitand · · Score: 1

    Interesting... I really don't see how a modeling language can be compared to an operating system though?

    In any case, thanks for the info :)

  139. Re:What's the point (Vanilla kernels in redhat) by hackus · · Score: 1

    Err, No. Don't do this.

    Configuration files are NOT compatible accross kernel families.

    Do NOT use configuration files for RedHat and then attempt to use them with plain vanilla kernel.org kernels.

    you will be VER VERY sorry one of these days if you do...

    If you do this, you have a ticking time bomb waiting to go off.

    Always create a new configuration file with the vanilla kernel you download and do not mix configuration files across kernel releases.

    -Hack

    --
    Got Geometrodynamics? Awe, too hard to figure out? Too bad.
  140. Re:What's the point (Vanilla kernels in redhat) by alpharoid · · Score: 1
    Do NOT use configuration files for RedHat and then attempt to use them with plain vanilla kernel.org kernels.

    you will be VER VERY sorry one of these days if you do...
    Thanks for the tip -- but I'm curious as to what the "ticking time bomb" amounts to. What could potentially go wrong by doing this?

    From my [admittedly modest] knowledge on this, incompatible kernel options are discarded on different versions, and don't negatively affect anything else. So the worst thing that could happen is one kernel compile that'll miss an option or two... or at least that was what I thought until now. :)

    There are no impacts on stability from my experience with this, so are there security implications?
  141. Re:I HAVE THE SOLUTION by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Use Windows.

  142. Re:Kernel design/architecture. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm white. I've got a gun. Your face should meet with it someday "I'm a racist". You fucking racist ass.

  143. Re:What's the point (Vanilla kernels in redhat) by hackus · · Score: 1

    Yes, there are problems.

    Primarily, if you are using the "experimental" options in a kernel build.

    If you attempt to add experimental options in a kernel that uses a different kernel config file, the results are undefined.

    That is, the kernel isn't guaranteed to build correctly with experimental drivers, adding a diffeent config file with experimental options or built in options that need to be configured at compile time, could result in values that are compiled for modules that could cause an oops.

    A good example, is the tag settings for a experimental SCSI driver. Usually you can set how many SCSI commands you can have outstanding, for your SCSI bus, before the device demands attention again from the driver.

    Say the author put in a value of -1 for the experimental driver in release 2.4.x.

    You makde a config for that and put it in a recent release, called 2.4.x+1.

    Well, 2.4.x+1 is no longer an experimental release, and -1 when compiled, will be outside the range of the expected values. The Author, expected you to generate a new config, which WOULD have provided the module with the proper info.

    So you compile it, and when the final release driver gets a -1, it oops the kernel, trashing your partition.

    -Hack

    --
    Got Geometrodynamics? Awe, too hard to figure out? Too bad.