Linux Kernel 2.6.0-test6 Released

lamont116 writes "The latest in the series of beta kernels was just released by the fine folks who have given us Linux. Enjoy!" The Changelog has a hefty 240K of miscellaneous changes... LWN has an overview of the updates.

Comments

2.6 and Longhorn

[NeoGeo64]

Well, since most likely some varation of the 2.6 kernel will be out when Longhorn is released, this puts Linux in a good position with 2.6's better memory management and IDE support and whatnot...

Re:2.6 and Longhorn

[NeoGeo64]

Agreed. Longhorn is just way too different from previous versions of Windows - and not a good different either.

They're not rewriting the code, they're just adding flashy new eyecandy and DRM. If Microsoft wants a good version of Windows, they need to dump the entire NT garbage and rewrite Windows from scratch.

Apple got a clue with OSX and came to the conslusion that the classic kernel just was never going to be stable, so they ditched it and now they have a *BSD core. Apple's happy, *NIX users are happy, and the open source community is happy.

Now, Microsoft being the close source zealots that they are would never do such a thing. However - Microsoft has billions in the bank. With a few years of R&D they could rewrite Windows and make it better and more stable... you know... more like Linux! (or OpenBSD) Because, let's face it folks, the currently design is inherently insecure.

Re:2.6 and Longhorn

[cpeterso]

Think about it. They've continually pushed back the release date of Longhorn, at least three times now, to my recollection. The screenshots they have leaked out, whether they are true or not haven't produced any vote of confidence from the various geeks I've seen comment about it online.


Even if many geeks don't like the "user centric" features in the leaked Longhorn screenshots, the screenshots still give GNOME and KDE developers a lot to think about. They are accused of simply stealing Apple's and Microsoft's GUI ideas. Maybe GNOME and KDE can now steal Microsoft's GUI ideas before Microsoft even releases them in a product!!! ;-)

Re:2.6 and Longhorn

[Saint Stephen]

How is this flamebait? How could guessing at ship dates "incite" anybody?

Re:2.6 and Longhorn

[dtfinch]

> vi VS emacs arguments are pointless and a waste of time.
>
> vi is the best.

Old Stallman post:

---------
FROM: Richard Stallman
DATE: 12/30/1991 06:18:13
SUBJECT: Should everone use vi?

Once in a while a crank appears and says that Emacs is lousy and we should all switch to vi.

I`m sure lots of you are ready to declaim at length why that isn`t so. But I`d like to suggest that it would be better not to bother. These days, few people are likely to believe such a claim, so there`s no need to refute it.

(a couple hours go by)

I`m rather dismayed that I have failed in my attempt to prevent a time-wasting discussion of whether Emacs is a good editor or not. It`s a subject not worth discussing, because the people who like it can use it, and others can use something else they prefer.

Re:2.6 and Longhorn

[Master Bait]

If Longhorn (or whatever they call it) deems any file as being executable just because of its name -- .exe, .com, .bat, then it will continue to be a source of insecurity and will continue to lose out.

Re:2.6 and Longhorn

[GooberToo]

That's because there are a lot of MS haters here which hate that you may know or understand something about MS that they don't. Generally speaking, there are many, many, people that are unfit to manage their own lives and yet they see themselves fit enough to judge other's comments.

Go figure.

Re:One more step...

[MartinG]

Actually, while I can hardly wait for 2.6.x to stabalize for many reasons, desktop use is not one of them.

2.6.x will being some very real improvements, but in the big picture of where gnu/linux is still lacking on the desktop, linux (the kernel) isn't really one of the problems.

Re:Gave it a shot...

[Karamchand]

Since you tried out a development kernel you seem to be a developer or at least part of quality assurance. Therefor you are not allowed to ignore bugs like that and go back to the working version. Instead you have to find out the source of the problem, write a nice bug report and file it. For sheer hard work supply a fix as well.

Re:Slashdot THIS instead!

[arnoroefs2000]

With everyone using Torrent, kernel.org wouldnt need the bandwidth and could use the goodwill/money for better things.

er

[dolson]

You could install a newer kernel... apt-get install kernel-image-2.4.22-1-386 apt-get install kernel-image-2.6.0-test4-1-386 etc...

ARM Support

[riptalon]

Until recently this would all have been fine but now I have my new Sharp Zaurus SL-C760 I am actually concerned about other architectures appart from x86 ;-) At the moment for just generic ARM support in 2.4 you need a large patch from Russell King and then more patches for the Zaurus specific stuff. The last rmk patch was a month and a half ago for 2.6.0-test2 and as far as I know, no one is even working on porting the Zaurus specific stuff to 2.6.

I don't really know what the arguements are for the present development model where most of the non-x86 architectures are kept separate from the mainline development but I really don't see how it can be a good idea. I guess I don't see what the difference is between individual subsystems, for instance, and support for different architectures. In both cases individuals or teams work on their own but in the subsystem case everything gets merged back in, by the time the kernel it declared stable, whereas for non-x86 architectures this never happens.

It seems to me that given the large size of these architecture patches, their maintainers must spend most of their time just updating them to keep them in sync with the new kernel versions, rather than actually fixing bug or adding new features. Also the fact that ARM users cannot test the latest kernels because there are no rmk patches for them can only lead to a "negative feedback" situation which will hurt kernel development. In general anything that unnecessarily fragments kernel development cannot be a positive thing.

Re:ARM Support

[yarbo]

maybe 2.6-test2 didn't get enough feedback for the developers to work on porting test 3-5?

Re:Jump it to 3.0 ?

[tupshin]

LVM2 works on top of device mapper which is part of the stock 2.6-test kernels. Enable CONFIG_BLK_DEV_DM when building the kernel.

-Tushi

Re:+1, SOMEBODY ACTUALLY USES UMSDOS

[SharpFang]

I use it.

I got tired of seeing "changing permissions of (somefile): Operation not permitted" and installed it for all 'doze partitions.

No Wonder "They" Are Afraid

[EzInKy]

IBM, SGI, INTEL, HP, Navy, Redhat, SUSE, Debian, and boatloads of other patches contributed by other companies, educational institutions, and independent devolopers working together for the profit of all.

Knoppix with 2.6.0-testX??

[bstadil]

We need Knoppix or a derivative with the latest test kernel,

That way we can get a whole lot more testing done with very little disruption on nornal system?

I tried to make one but I couldn't get it to boot, so maybe someone better qualified can try and if successful post Torrent file.

Boring SCO References

[dryan]

Hmm i think i have counted an average of 2419 SCO jokes per story. Everyone is so incredibly original.