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Kernel 2.6.1 Released

jnf writes "And so he said it is released, and then jumped on a plane to Australia. Linus announced the release of 2.6.1 a few minutes ago, fixes include AGPGART, a fork() bugfix, and misc changes to XFS, and those are just the patches applied since v2.6.1-rc3. Full changelog is avialable, kernel at the usual places, i held off posting this until kernel.org was updated." 2.6.0 is now in Debian unstable...

441 comments

  1. cygwin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    still doesn't build on cygwin..

    1. Re:cygwin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      There's a couple of problems.. The makefiles dont use $EXEEXT so the binaries keep on getting rebuild, and there's an invalid printf format string in the initfs generator thingy.

    2. Re:cygwin by aled · · Score: 5, Funny

      Worst: it doesn't compile with VS.NET. This Linux thing isn't as portable as advertised.

      --

      "I think this line is mostly filler"
    3. Re:cygwin by Xpilot · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      Worst: it doesn't compile with VS.NET. This Linux thing isn't as portable as advertised.

      Moderation +1
      100% Insightful

      That one got +1 insightful? This is a sad, sad day for slashdot. :)

      --
      "Backups are for wimps. Real men upload their data to an FTP site and have everyone else mirror it." -- Linus Torvalds
    4. Re:cygwin by arvindn · · Score: 3, Funny
    5. Re:cygwin by Eisenfaust · · Score: 1

      I am not very experienced with matters regarding the linux kernel, but it seems some what surprising that IT doesn't build in cygwin. Assuming you have the proper verson of GCC and all the correct header files what would stop it from compiling?

      --
      Grrrrr... don't bother me, I'm thinking.
    6. Re:cygwin by $rtbl_this · · Score: 2, Insightful

      This is why we need a "funny" metamod option for all moderations: sometimes the moderation is funnier than the post.

      --
      "Are you being weird, or sarcastic?" said Emma. I said I didn't know because I get the two feelings mixed up.
    7. Re:cygwin by quigonn · · Score: 2, Funny

      I can remember when somebody wrote that Sauron was Frodo's father, and it was moderated +4 or +5 insightful. _That_ was bad.

      --
      A monkey is doing the real work for me.
    8. Re:cygwin by quigonn · · Score: 1

      the cygwin gcc might not be Linux-enabled, i.e. only generates x86 binaries for Win32.

      --
      A monkey is doing the real work for me.
    9. Re:cygwin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Upset that your comment didn't get modded up, clifgriffin?

    10. Re:cygwin by millette · · Score: 1

      You can get cygwin gcc to build palmos applications, so that's not a limitation. I think I cross-compile other stuff for linux with it from windows, but I'm not 100% sure.

    11. Re:cygwin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Go over to the apple section, there are always posts that basically say "Apple is good", modded insightful, interesting. It would be fuuny, except that they are abusing the moderation system.

    12. Re:cygwin by warrior_on_the_edge_ · · Score: 1

      Worse they've given away the ending of the 5th LOTR film

      "Sauron strikes back"

    13. Re:cygwin by SwitchBitch · · Score: 1

      Ahem, where is the Setup.exe for this kernel thing ??

    14. Re:cygwin by Tuxinatorium · · Score: 1

      hey, I tried installing it on windows 98 and got the blue screen that says "WE WILL CRUSH YOU"

    15. Re:cygwin by The+Cydonian · · Score: 1
      Moderation +2
      50% Funny
      50% Insightful
      The moderator gods DO have a sense of humour after all! :-D
  2. Of course... by Stween · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... it gets released the minute I've installed 2.6.0.

    Perhaps I'll wait until at least 2.6.2 before doing it again :)

    1. Re:Of course... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And of course Debian finally gets 2.6.0 release into unstable, when 2.6.1 gets released.

      Come on [Debian] people, you can slack off with all the other stuff, but at least stay current with the kernel.

    2. Re:Of course... by SQLz · · Score: 4, Informative

      Try this.

      Copy the .config file from the 2.6.0 directory to the 2.6.1 directory. Then enter the 2.6.1 directory. Type: 'make oldconfig'. That will apply the old kernel configuration to the new one asking you manually about any new options. Then just do your normal, make, make modules_install.

      Beats the hell out of make menuconfig.

    3. Re:Of course... by grahamlee · · Score: 4, Informative

      Or use /proc/config.gz from the 2.6.0 system, that might work too :-)

    4. Re:Of course... by big_groo · · Score: 1
      Yeah, that works, but I just spent an *entire* day getting my webacam to work properly.

      So what about Nvidia drivers? Anyone tried this yet?

      Let the fun begin!

    5. Re:Of course... by Stween · · Score: 1

      Good point, but I was referring more to the "only found time to waste on 2.6.0 over the last few days, so can't waste more on 2.6.1 now" aspect ;)

    6. Re:Of course... by blixel · · Score: 1

      ... it gets released the minute I've installed 2.6.0

      You'll want to upgrade to 2.6.1 to fix this recently announced (local) root exploit. The headline doesn't say it, but according to the user posts it effected 2.2.x, 2.4.x and 2.6.0 kernels.

    7. Re:Of course... by Reducer2001 · · Score: 0, Troll

      And they say Linux is ready for the desktop?

      --
      When you get to hell -- tell 'em Itchy sent ya!
    8. Re:Of course... by phre4k · · Score: 1

      linux 2.6 is unsupported by nvidia. Good luck getting an unsupported driver to work on any os. I don't know the reason that nvidia doesn't support 2.6, but it's hardly a technical reason.

      --
      "Nobody really checks their email any more. They just delete their spam"
    9. Re:Of course... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://minion.de/

      DUH!

    10. Re:Of course... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Excuse me? You create a new directory for 2.6.1?!!!! You do use patches, don't you?

    11. Re:Of course... by SQLz · · Score: 1

      Hey, talk to Gentoo. The portage system delivers to file to me. I'm not downloading it from the blessed kernel.org.

    12. Re:Of course... by op00to · · Score: 1

      That's funny! My workstation at work is running 2.6.1, and I've got 2 Nvidia cards in the workstation. You suck at trolling.

    13. Re:Of course... by phre4k · · Score: 1

      I was not trolling. I just said that 2.6 wasn't supported by the nvidia, manufatorer, but only by third parties. My parent said that linux wasn't ready for the desktop, but i said that it is always hard to get a card working on an unsupported os.

      --
      "Nobody really checks their email any more. They just delete their spam"
    14. Re:Of course... by bfg9000 · · Score: 1
      And they say Linux is ready for the desktop?

      Linux *IS* ready for the desktop. It's corporate America who isn't ready for Linux, not the other way around. They're the ones withholding support for Linux....

      --

      I'm not normally an irrational zealous dickhead, but I figure "When in Rome..."

    15. Re:Of course... by Reducer2001 · · Score: 0

      I consider myself a fairly competent computer user (A+, Network+, MCP, CNE, college degree in IS), and really want to use Linux.

      I was trying it out on my machine at home, and wanted to print an image from Nautilus in Gnome. My printer was set-up just fine using CUPS and i could print test-pages and text files all day.

      I pushed the Print icon and nothing happened. No error, job didn't get sent to the queue. Nothing.
      This is unacceptable. I really want Linux to succeeded, but things need to be worked out so they 'just work'.

      Say what you want about Windows security and stability (although I've been running XP since day one and have only seen one crash) but when I press print in Windows, I get a nice picture. Every time.

      --
      When you get to hell -- tell 'em Itchy sent ya!
    16. Re:Of course... by snol · · Score: 1

      Do the minion.de stuff the other comment mentioned, and make sure you aren't running in framebuffer mode with rivafb (best is to disable it when building the kernel.) That one bit me for a while by locking my display with funny lines and dots on the screen whenever I left X.

    17. Re:Of course... by Shazow · · Score: 4, Funny
      ... it gets released the minute I've installed 2.6.0.

      Perhaps I'll wait until at least 2.6.2 before doing it again :)

      But but but... If you never install 2.6.1, then 2.6.2 may never come out! The fate of the world depends on you!!

      - shazow
    18. Re:Of course... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What are you talking about? I've had ZERO problems getting the drivers working on 2.6 since the day it came out. There was nothing "hard" about it.

    19. Re:Of course... by Slack3r78 · · Score: 0, Troll

      You should just do like the Debian guys and give up.

      "Fancy schmancy new kernel? My 2.2 kernel works perfectly well, thank you!"

      =P

    20. Re:Of course... by phre4k · · Score: 1

      ok. I misread the parent. He said he had troubles getting his webcam to work, but i've had problems with nvidia+2.6. I followed the instructions on minion.de, but in couldn't use the module. Modprobe gave me the error: wrong fomule format or something

      --
      "Nobody really checks their email any more. They just delete their spam"
    21. Re:Of course... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      The real question is, now that 2.6 is in unstable, will 2.4 become the default kernel in stable?

    22. Re:Of course... by Deusy · · Score: 1

      Or use /proc/config.gz from the 2.6.0 system

      What kinda cruft are you running? Who in their right mind would waste such precious bytes by selecting such a useless option when it is so easily cut out? /me goes back to Gnome 2.4

      --

      Free Gamer - Free games list and commentary

    23. Re:Of course... by Chop · · Score: 1
      Good luck getting an unsupported driver to work on any os.

      Most of the time I install hardware in WindowsXP I get a message about unsupported drivers or something. I don't really care what the message says, I always just click 'OK'. I haven't had too many problems.

      Chop
    24. Re:Of course... by pherris · · Score: 2, Informative
      2.6.1 can be grabbed via portage (sync and get gentoo-dev-sources). IFAIK genkernel doesn't work on 2.6.x yet so you'll need to build it the old fashion way (which a lot people don't like to do). Check out "Configuring the Kernel" for instructions and, of course, Gentoo's forums for others' experiences.

      I'm running 2.6.1_rc2-gentoo and like it alot (since it's all new hardware and want to play with the new ALSA, USB and crypto stuff) but still will run 2.4.x on an older box until genkernel will work [with 2.6]. I'm guessing that genkernel will support 2.6 soon and they're just trying to figure out a way to make a smooth converision.

      For those that haven't read about Gentoo they should check "The Philosophy of Gentoo" and Portage User Guide. IMHO Gentoo rocks.

      --
      "And a voice was screaming: 'Holy Jesus! What are these goddamn animals?'" - HST
    25. Re:Of course... by phre4k · · Score: 1

      This is different. The case you describe the os doesn't support the driver. In the case linux vs. nvidia. the manufactorer doesn't support the os, which makes a huge difference.

      --
      "Nobody really checks their email any more. They just delete their spam"
    26. Re:Of course... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Make sure when you compile the module that the build is using the 2.6. kernel tree. If you compile the module using th 2.4 tree the module will fail to load giving and error similar to what you observed.

    27. Re:Of course... by grahamlee · · Score: 1

      The great thing is that precious bytes aren't being wasted as it's dynamically generated (along with the rest of the /proc hierarchy) on demand. Have a look at proc(5) and hier(7) to learn more about the Linux filesystem hierarchy, and the /proc hierarchy in particular.

    28. Re:Of course... by phre4k · · Score: 1

      I am not sure about what you mean having the /usr/src/linux symlink point to the kernel-sources i did that.

      --
      "Nobody really checks their email any more. They just delete their spam"
    29. Re:Of course... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I consider myself a basic linux user, and none of this happened to me. Mine prints fine and requires no work to set up. Get Knoppix and try it. Mine works "right out of the box", but I figure if your setup is odd, it might not. And write the guys who wrote the software and get them to fix it. We can't do anything here.

  3. 2.6.1? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hell, it took me until 2.4.5 to switch from 2.2. Let's hope this one is faster :)

    1. Re:2.6.1? by anthonyrcalgary · · Score: 1

      From what I can see, most of the bugs are specific to certain platforms and drivers. The core stuff looks okay.

      --
      When someone might yell at me, it has to be OpenBSD.
  4. Linus Flees by TedCheshireAcad · · Score: 3, Funny

    Linus Flees! The time of judgement is upon us. Oh, repent!

    1. Re:Linus Flees by Kadagan+AU · · Score: 1

      Linus Flees! The time of judgement is upon us. Oh, repent!

      Better than Linux Fleas ;-) or a whole plague of them!

      --
      This space for rent, inquire within.
  5. Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by flyingace · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ?

    1. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by SteevR · · Score: 5, Informative

      Gentoo as always I'm sure ;-)

      --
      Performing sanity checks on your own beliefs is vital in avoiding poisoned koolaid.
    2. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by Pr0xY · · Score: 2, Redundant

      well you could install it on any distro, the next Fedora will be 2.6.x based. Also, in Gentoo, there is of course an ebuild ;)

      proxy

    3. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by LittleLebowskiUrbanA · · Score: 2, Informative

      Mandrake and Fedora.

    4. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by ultrabot · · Score: 3, Informative

      Arjan has prebuilt rpms for Fedore Core 1, at least. Lots of Fedora people run it, unsurprisingly.

      --
      Save your wrists today - switch to Dvorak
    5. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by dave-tx · · Score: 1
      Well, it's not there yet, but Fedora Core plans on it's next release (April, IIRC) shipping with 2.6.0.

      http://fedora.redhat.com/participate/schedule/

      --

      >> "What would the robut do? Frame someone!"

    6. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      emerge mm-sources
      genkernel --config

      edit grub.conf
      done!

    7. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by Erik+Hensema · · Score: 2, Informative

      Suse 9.0 ships with one of the 2.6.0-test kernels. And debian unstable is no distribution of course ;-)

      --

      This is your sig. There are thousands more, but this one is yours.

    8. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by Milton+Waddams · · Score: 1

      has anyone got it working on debian stable? i've tried a few times by copying over my 2.4.24 config into 2.6 and then using make-kpkg (or something), but the kernel build usually quits with an error 2, something to do with a module dependency? Going through menuconfig, there seems to be alot less modules, is this just because there's a new neater layout or have alot of the 2.4 modules not been put into 2.6?

    9. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by alexdm · · Score: 1

      Longhorn also will be shipping with 2.6.0... !

    10. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by (H)elix1 · · Score: 1

      Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ?

      Mandrake's cooker (beta for v10 release). First user distro that automagically configured my ATI Fire GL 9000 (onboard video chip in my t40p).

    11. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by sloptaco · · Score: 1

      No way dude - WinMe Kernel all the way!

    12. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by jrumney · · Score: 1

      The config for 2.6 is more intelligent, skipping bits that you've already answered "No" to in a meta question instead of showing a screen full of greyed out buttons. At least thats the case for xconfig, but I think the whole config system has been rearranged so *config are just front ends to the same intelligent backend, so menuconfig is probably similarly quicker to get through.

    13. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by Troed · · Score: 1

      How does a RH9 user become a Fedora user? I must confess that I haven't searched _that_ much, but I haven't managed to find an easy migration-FAQ ...

      up2date fedora

      ? ;)

    14. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by Frodo420024 · · Score: 1
      An unofficial rpm is availale for SUSE 9.0 at ftp.suse.com.

      I gave the previous one a spin and had a few problems - like unexplainable temporary hangs in KDE, sound config problem. Hope this one does better!

      --
      I'm in a Unix state of mind.
    15. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Suse 9.0 ships with one of the 2.6.0-test kernels.

      It is optional, though. The impressively scary warnings put me off a bit - I think I'll have to try this modern technology at some point. Maybe 2007?

    16. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by Quantum-Sci · · Score: 1

      Mandrake 9.2, for one. But after compile, it doesn't boot on a Thinkpad. Maybe .1 will.

      --
      Campaign finance reform is national security.
    17. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by nvrrobx · · Score: 1

      SuSE ships an unsupported 2.6 kernel on the installer CD.

    18. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by Nexus7 · · Score: 2, Informative

      It isn't going to work with stable. It needs a new modutils.

    19. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by ozbird · · Score: 1

      Gentoo as always I'm sure ;-)

      Yes, but it's still a "development" kernel. I'm hoping that 2.6 will be the default kernel in Gentoo 2004 - the kernel itself is fine, but some of the supporting applications need to catch up, I guess.

    20. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by Bertie · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Is there any chance of them not doing an utterly half-assed job of it this time? I mean, what sort of self-respecting distro ships without any sort of video-playing software in this day and age, and expects you to spend hours in dependency hell cobbling together mplayer or whatever? It's a disgrace.

    21. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by HTMLSpinnr · · Score: 1

      Grab yum (RH9 version would be a good start) from freshrpms.net or fedora.us, edit your yum.conf to point to fedora core and update repositories, and yum away. Was painless over broadband.

      --
      $ man woman *
      -bash: /usr/bin/man: Argument list too long
    22. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by sgarrity · · Score: 1

      Fedora Core 2 will be based on 2.6.x. The first comes out in a few weeks (Feb 2) and the final is planned for April 2. See the fedora schedule for more details.

    23. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by Chang · · Score: 3, Informative

      I just recently did this and here is the process I used.

      Install yum from here:
      http://linux.duke.edu/projects/yum/download .ptml

      Then install the fedora-release package from here:
      http://download.fedora.redhat.com/pub/fedor a/linux /core/1/i386/os/Fedora/RPMS/fedora-release-1-3.i38 6.rpm

      You probably want to pick a mirror site - the main site is overwhelmed. To find a mirror, check here:
      http://fedora.redhat.com/download/mirrors.h tml

      Select a nearby mirror and edit /etc/yum.conf appropriately.

      Then run yum upgrade and kick back while it downloads and installs.

      This isn't the supported way to perform an upgrade but it worked for my purposes. The correct way to upgrade is to download and burn Fedora CDs and use those to run through the bootable installer.

    24. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by phre4k · · Score: 1

      like you normally upgrades your redhat system. Writes the iso's or do a netinstall from a diskette, if that is still possible. Remember the fedora-thing is nothing but a name-change

      --
      "Nobody really checks their email any more. They just delete their spam"
    25. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by Milton+Waddams · · Score: 1

      is that all? what version do i need? the one in testing or unstable?

    26. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Please die you whore. Fucken buttsex.

    27. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by Nexus7 · · Score: 1

      Well, that's where I got stuck for a bit, but there might be other things. I run unstable already, so I have newer versions of many packages compared to stable to begin with.

      In early testing versions, you had to set console options correctly to even get a usable console, but this seems to have gone away by test9. Something to keep in mind if you do have the problem (it'll say "no tty"). So far I've done 2 machines and a 3rd one won't go cleanly to 2.6.0-test11. Until I can do that, I'm not putting it into production.

    28. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No you all suck it. BSD OWNZ J00 BIATCH! Linux is TEH GHEY NESS

    29. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by DrQu+xum · · Score: 1

      If -unstable now has 2.6, will this mean that Knoppix will have 2.6 anytime soon? It'd be a dream for those of us who don't want to mess with our existing systems....

      --
      DrQu+xum: Proof that the lameness filter doesn't work.
    30. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by Malc · · Score: 1

      Be careful, this is /.! You're taking a chance of ruining everybody's illusion (delusion?) of Debian that it is old and out of date, and perhaps even dying like BSD.

    31. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by AKnightCowboy · · Score: 1
      Yes, but it's still a "development" kernel. I'm hoping that 2.6 will be the default kernel in Gentoo 2004 - the kernel itself is fine, but some of the supporting applications need to catch up, I guess.

      I don't know if I'd switch to a new major kernel like that anytime soon. If I remember either the 2.2 or the 2.4 series went through a complete virtual memory management rewrite in the early releases of those, had major file system corruption issues, etc. Hell, 2.4.11 is still marked "don't use" for probably one of those reasons. Wait until about 2.6.15 to come out before switching.

    32. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by dave-tx · · Score: 1
      ...spend hours in dependency hell cobbling together mplayer or whatever...
      apt-get is your friend... It works wonderfully with rpms, too!
      --

      >> "What would the robut do? Frame someone!"

    33. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by pyros · · Score: 2, Informative
      I mean, what sort of self-respecting distro ships without any sort of video-playing software in this day and age, and expects you to spend hours in dependency hell cobbling together mplayer or whatever?


      You're a tard or a troll. RH did not stop shipping media players, they stopped shipping prebuilt modules for codecs with patented algorithms. And dependency hell is years gone. There are plenty of third party repositories like fedora.us, livna.org, and the venerable freshrpms.net which support both apt and yum. And the up2date client supports not only RHN servers but apt and yum servers too.

    34. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by sander · · Score: 1


      Not any that want to have any real stability?

    35. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by jrockway · · Score: 2, Informative

      apt-get install module-init-tools

      it's not modutils anymore

      --
      My other car is first.
    36. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Gentoo is kernel-agnostic. There is no need to use a gentoo kernel. Since you build every kernel yourself, this is especially true. With that said I emerged kernel 2.6.0 from the sys-kernel/development-sources area (Kernel 2.6 is not yet considered mainline) and when I built it, my system panic'd when mounting my XFS volumes. I just did an emerge sync and kernel 2.6.1 seems to be in development-sources now (along with rc?) so I guess I'll see if the XFS patches have fixed my problem now. Anyway the development-sources kernels are raw unpatched kernels, and gentoo-dev-sources I assume are the ones going into gentoo-sources, but there's no gentoo-patched 2.6.1 there yet. I'm sure some gentoo developer has an ebuild if you want to get on their irc channel and ask them for it, though.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    37. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=121944
      h ttp://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=122577
      Lo ve sources =)

    38. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=121944 http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=122577 Love sources =)

    39. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by Nothinman · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I've been using it since test9 and havn't had any major issues.

      And on top of that, if noone uses it until 2.6.15 how will any of the bugs get found? The kernel developers have been using it since 2.5.x so they've probably found all the major bugs dealing with the hardware they all use, the testing base has to be widened to find the odd bugs and that's why 2.6.0 was released when it was.

    40. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by jejones · · Score: 1

      I was using RH9, and I just grabbed the ISOs and did it like a normal upgrade. People tend to recommend doing a clean install, but for me the upgrade just worked. (I did, of course, back up crucial directories before doing the upgrade. As they said in one of the Ray Harryhausen Sinbad movies, "Trust in Allah---but tie your camel.")

    41. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Arjan has prebuilt rpms for Fedore Core 1
      Who?
    42. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by O0o0Oblubb!O0o0O · · Score: 1

      SuSE 9.0 is supposed to be ready for kernel 2.6 as far as the necessary tool versions are concerned (listed at Kerneltrap).

      SuSE keeps unofficial RPMs on their ftp server but will probably wait for their next distro release until they upgrade). Currently the server only lists test kernels. They have done a lot as far as backporting features of the 2.6 kernel are concerned, so the incentives for switching to 2.6 are not as numerous as for other distro users).

      Well, I know /. readers do not like SuSE, but anyway... :-)

    43. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by Rigor+Morty · · Score: 1

      I don't know, but I'd be one happy redneck if I could get redhat 9 to accept even the 2.6.0 kernel without major god-damn surgery. ...grumble off...

      --
      Remove the spamfreak to speak.
    44. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by RdsArts · · Score: 1

      Arch Linux has had 2.6.0 in it's repos for awhile now.

    45. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Mandrake 9.2 is ready for 2.6.x.

      www.mandrakesoft.com

    46. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by pcraven · · Score: 2, Informative

      Arjan is a Redhat guy. See:

      http://people.redhat.com/arjanv/

      For the stuff he builds. He does a lot of 2.6 rpm's for Fedora and RH 9.0.

    47. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by Fafnir_b · · Score: 1

      sourcemage

    48. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ArchLinux

    49. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by PishiGorbeh · · Score: 1

      If you use wine (or rely on it like I do) What out for Fedora. the new caching system makes wine useless.

    50. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by Joe+Tie. · · Score: 1

      The recent cooker snapshots for Mandrake have a choice to use 2.4 or 2.6, and with the KDE 3.2 beta the system really moves fast.

      --
      Everything will be taken away from you.
    51. Re:Besides Debian, What distros have 2.6.x ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, download apt from :http://yarrow.freshrpms.net/rpm.html?id=393

      Then, edit /etc/apt/sources.list and add something like this: http://freshrpms.net/packages/builds/apt/sources.l ist.i386

      Then, just apt-get update and apt-get dist-upgrade and it should work :)

  6. do_mremap local exploit by zeroclip · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Does this release fix the do_mremap() exploit? I coulden't find it in the changelog. I got the impression from security sites that 2.6.0 had this bug.

    1. Re:do_mremap local exploit by PowerBert · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Yes, it was fixed in 2.6.1-rc1....
      and then again in 2.6.1-rc2.
      Real men don't test patches... aparently ;-)

    2. Re:do_mremap local exploit by bwindle2 · · Score: 1

      Yes, it does. It was fixed in 2.6.1-rc2.

    3. Re:do_mremap local exploit by sopuli · · Score: 4, Informative
      Here is the relevant changelog entry:
      <torvalds@home.osdl.org>
      Don't allow mremap of zero-sized areas.
    4. Re:do_mremap local exploit by Overly+Critical+Guy · · Score: 1

      Funny how little-known and reported an outright Linux kernel exploit is compared to, say, an Outlook user-run executable attachment worm.

      --
      "Sufferin' succotash."
    5. Re:do_mremap local exploit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There was evidence to prove that Overly Critical Guy is a lying cocksucker, but he deleted it. Think independently.

  7. Back in my day.. by clifgriffin · · Score: 1, Funny

    We didn't have all these kernel updates...and we's liked it that way!

    </bitter young man>

    1. Re:Back in my day.. by jimwelch · · Score: 0

      I think jumping the humor made it newsworthy.

      --
      Never trust a man wearing a coat and tie!
    2. Re:Back in my day.. by andreak · · Score: 1

      Let me remind you that this is Slashdot - News for Nerds. Stuff that matters. If it doesn't matter to you, just don't read it! I would much rather read this on Slashdot than having to poll kernel.org for new versions.

    3. Re:Back in my day.. by Yorrike · · Score: 1

      But this gives me something to complain about, and as someone with british heritage it's in my genes to complain, so I'll complain! And if there's a reason I shouldn't complain, I'll complain about the inability to complain. Like I'm doing now.

      --

      Looks can be deceiving. Or CAN they?

    4. Re:Back in my day.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Would you rather they posted yet another stupid ipod/itunes story?

    5. Re:Back in my day.. by Salsaman · · Score: 1
      This is newsworthy, actually. When a .0 release of the Linux kernel comes out, it's basically only been tested by the Linux kernel testers. Then it hits the public.

      A .1 release means that it's then found to be good enough for general use, and hopefully any really major bugs will have been fixed.

      Besides, it is infinitely more interesting than yet another iTunes, iPod, iKitchen-Sink is cool story.

    6. Re:Back in my day.. by fuzzix · · Score: 0

      What are you talking about? Jetsetting and hacking! How much more interesting does it get?
      It's like that exciting hacking film Swordfish...

    7. Re:Back in my day.. by Greyfox · · Score: 1

      Back in my day there was a big to-do when the compressed kernel source size hit 10 MB!

      --

      I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

    8. Re:Back in my day.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      It's like that exciting hacking film Swordfish...
      I'd like to see Linus sing "Greased Lightning"
  8. Slackware by turgid · · Score: 4, Informative
    Slackware is 2.6.x ready, and 9.1 comes with it as an option.

    We will know that it is time to use 2.6.x in anger when Patrick ships his distro with it as the default kernel. This is usually a sure sign that stability and maturity is upon us.

    1. Re:Slackware by Enry · · Score: 4, Insightful

      By 2.6.x ready, I hope that means that the existing 2.4.x kernel includes the devmapper patch so that you can go from LVM1 to LVM2. No other distros seem to have thought about that particular upgrade yet.

    2. Re:Slackware by e+r+i+k+0 · · Score: 0

      Not to be a troll or anything, but Gentoo does. It's been LVM2 ready as soon as 2.6.0 came out.

    3. Re:Slackware by dnnrly · · Score: 1

      We ALL know this!!

      I've been holding off downloading anything with 2.6 kernel until I get an official Slackware distro with it in!

    4. Re:Slackware by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm predicting that will be.....um.....9.2

      Sorry...I had to....anyone hear of a release for the next slack version? I've been very impressed with 9.1.

  9. Let me get this straight... by clifgriffin · · Score: 5, Funny

    I download it, double click on the .exe, click next a few times and restart? Thanks, Clif

    1. Re:Let me get this straight... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The concept of being 'user-friendly' has yet to seep into the murky underworld of Linux development, so no.

    2. Re:Let me get this straight... by sloptaco · · Score: 1

      Yeah, they forgot to mention in the Changelog the new autoconfiguration wizard. They gave him groovier hat with big starts on it.

    3. Re:Let me get this straight... by FuzzyBad-Mofo · · Score: 4, Funny

      It looks like you're trying to upgrade your Kernel. Would you like to:

      1. make gconfig?
      2. make clean bzImage modules modules_install?
      3. copy system files to /boot?
      4. install a bootloader?
    4. Re:Let me get this straight... by JCholewa · · Score: 4, Informative

      > The concept of being 'user-friendly' has yet to seep into
      > the murky underworld of Linux development, so no.

      That's not exactly fair. Although installing a kernel independently of a distro isn't easy, program installation in general is far, far easier than it is in MS Windows. In debian, you just type "apt-get programname". In Mandrake, you type "urpmi programname".

      In Windows, you open your web browser, go to download.com, type "programname" into the search field, click on the most likely link to the program from the search results, click on the "Download Now" link, click on the closest mirror, wait a few seconds, tell the app to "Run" instead of "Save", pray that the app is safe for your system (in the above apt-get and urpmi examples, programs are generally added into the installable app databases only after they make sure that the programs are reasonably secure and reliable), wait for the graphical installer to come up, click next, select the program components to install in one of several different ways (checkboxes, checkboxes in a scrollview, that tree-based Office2k method with the little dropdown buttons, etc..), verify the install location, click Finish, then delete the stupid excess shortcuts placed on the desktop, the shortcut bar, above the "Programs" entry in the Start menu, etc...

      Then you agree to a surprisingly restrictive and needlessly redundant ("you agree to not do the following already illegal things...") license agreement. Then, maybe, it'll make you reboot.

      BTW, if you have multiple program names in Debian or Mandrake Linux, you can install all of them with a single command line (or a single button in the install gui).

      So hah! ;P

      --
      -JC
      coder
      http://www.jc-news.com/parse.cgi?coding/main

    5. Re:Let me get this straight... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But, what if you dont know what you want. You just want an image viewier. You cant do Apt-Get Image Viewer Things. Thats whats great about Download.com and other places to download software. YOu dont need to know the name of the program you wan.

      Now on the other hand, www.gentoo-portage.com is great. You can search for the kind of program you want, and it will let you know what choices you have.

    6. Re:Let me get this straight... by Vantage13 · · Score: 2, Informative

      I believe you're looking for apt-cache search image viewer. Of course there are also ways to do this through a gui, not to mention packages.debian.org...

    7. Re:Let me get this straight... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > The concept of being 'user-friendly' has yet to seep into
      > the murky underworld of Linux development, so no.

      I might add; Linux users don't have the added benefit of an email client that automatically installs and executes viruses that spam their code thousands of email users whilst simultaneously slowing down networks with 'MAILERDAEMON' failure messages.

      And in Linux, we've got to run a screensaver in order to get that pretty blue screen with all of the white letters on it.

      Not to mention my favorite windows feature - rebooting after changing network addresses. What better time to shutdown all of my running applications and restart the system than when switching from static IP to a DHCP assigned address. It's really a hassle in linux to switch addresses and continue working.

    8. Re:Let me get this straight... by Brandybuck · · Score: 1

      Awesome! I always knew the standard Windows install method was bad, but until you exposed it to the light of day, I never really understood how bad it was. Everyone knows it's as bad as you say, but they refuse to let it enter their consciousness.

      I was sold on the concept of "package manager" the very first time I ran across it. Combine it with intelligently packaged software, and it blows the socks off of self-installing executables. Combine it with a database of available packages, so that you can browse for software and automatically install dependencies, and I can't think of any reason why someone would want the archaic Windows way.

      --
      Don't blame me, I didn't vote for either of them!
    9. Re:Let me get this straight... by pompousjerk · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but at least in Windows I don't have to work with text. I can't even sit with a book for more than thirty seconds, you expect me to type and then read?? Sheesh, next you'll want me to understand how to update Windows. Puh-leez.

    10. Re:Let me get this straight... by NSParadox · · Score: 1

      ipconfig /renew

      Or you could reboot if you don't know what you're doing.

      --
      Unless mankind redesigns itself .... robots will take over our world. (Stephen Hawking)
  10. I've got my eye on you, australia by MC_Cancer_Pants · · Score: 1, Funny

    *Watches as linus releases an embedded back-door to make a supercomputer to bring rise to the new world power, Australia*

    1. Re:I've got my eye on you, australia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The kernel maintainer Andrew Morton is an Australian too... hmmmm

  11. Problem with 2.6.1 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Well, you see, my BLT drive just went AWOL and I got this real big presentation due tomorrow for Mr. Kawsaki and if I don't get it in he'll ask me to commit Harry Carry. Could you read me the numbers on your version? It's the thing that you get when you type 'uname -a'

    Oh wait, we are all about reality here. My mistake.

    1. Re:Problem with 2.6.1 by B5_geek · · Score: 1

      Even though you posted AC, I still think this is a funny post, good movie reference too.

      --
      "The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." ~Plato (427-347 BC)
    2. Re:Problem with 2.6.1 by Epeeist · · Score: 2, Funny

      > my BLT drive

      You put bacon, lettuce and tomato inside your drive? What do you put in your sandwiches?

    3. Re:Problem with 2.6.1 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      commit Harry Carry.

      It's "hari-kari", you stupid fuckstick.

    4. Re:Problem with 2.6.1 by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Chips. Crunch crunch crunch, byte nibble.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    5. Re:Problem with 2.6.1 by Da+w00t · · Score: 1

      You just don't get it, do you. That is a quote from the 1995 (dear god it's old) movie Hackers. Get your geek on man, seriously.

      FYI man, alright. You could sit at home, and do like absolutely -nothing-, and your name goes through like 17 computers a day. 1984? Yeah right, man. That's a typo. Orwell is here now. He's livin' large. We have no names, man. No names. We are nameless!

      --

      da w00t. mtfnpy?
    6. Re:Problem with 2.6.1 by displague · · Score: 1

      it rings so many bells, but i can't google it... What movie was it?

      --
      Marques Johansson
    7. Re:Problem with 2.6.1 by soulsteal · · Score: 1

      I assume you mean "commit harikari" instead of "commit Harry Carry" [sic]. Mr. Caray's been dead for a few years and I don't think the other mental patients would like to room with him.

      On that note, Cubs win!

    8. Re:Problem with 2.6.1 by Eberlin · · Score: 1

      I believe it's the beginning of Hackers right before he starts playing with the TV network programming.

    9. Re:Problem with 2.6.1 by B5_geek · · Score: 1

      Hackers

      --
      "The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." ~Plato (427-347 BC)
    10. Re:Problem with 2.6.1 by Fryboy · · Score: 1

      Just don't bring your BLT into http://www.harrycarays.com/ :)

  12. Re:I can't install this on... by ultrabot · · Score: 1

    NetBSD...wtf?

    I guess you'll just have to upgrade your bootloader. Recompilation of init and other software might also be necessary - 2.6.x is known to break the binary compatibility with current versions of NetBSDs. Filesystem should work, though.

    --
    Save your wrists today - switch to Dvorak
  13. Hmmmm.... by Soko · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'm going to be in Australia (and on airplanes) for the week, but we're
    all in the capable hands of Andrew, so why worry? The fact that I'm
    fleeing the country should in no way be construed as anything sinister at
    all, no siree. Nope. I'm innocent, and nobody saw me do it.


    Linus is not only a great project manager, system architect and coder, he's funny as hell too.

    (If that isn't an underhanded slap in the back of the head of Dalek McBride, I don't know what is. "I'll be in Oz all week, try the veal!!")

    I hope SCO sticks around for a while just for the comedy factor. :-)

    Soko

    --
    "Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm." - Anonymous
    1. Re:Hmmmm.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Amusing, yes, but I'm not sure this rises to the level of "funny as hell"...

    2. Re:Hmmmm.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Amusing, yes, but I'm not sure this rises to the level of "funny as hell"..

      The grandparent didn't say this post is funny as hell, he said that Linus is. And he is; you have to look at his collected works, as it were. You also have to take it in context. I mean, a professional comedian who displayed Linus' humorous ability would be a failure, certainly, but Linus is far funnier on a regular basis that an average person -- and vastly better than an average engineer.

      And his sense of humor is actually really important "grease" for the kernel development process.

    3. Re:Hmmmm.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Linus is not only a great project manager, system architect and coder, he's funny as hell too

      Bleh! Are you a Soko-phant?

    4. Re:Hmmmm.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >> Linus is not only a great project manager, system architect and coder, he's funny as hell too.

      The last is implied by the first. ;-)

    5. Re:Hmmmm.... by buttahead · · Score: 2, Interesting

      now that's funny... I've never used lube during development.

    6. Re:Hmmmm.... by hayden · · Score: 1
      I've never used lube during development.
      You've obviously never done programming for a corporation then.
      --
      Nerd: Derogatory term typically directed at anybody with a lower Slashdot ID than you.
    7. Re:Hmmmm.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why no just Soko him off and get it over with?

  14. STILL waiting for... by Trolling4Columbine · · Score: 4, Informative

    Native support for SATA hard drives!

    I've been wanting to dual-boot for several months now, but the Linux installer (any distribution) does not recognize my SATA hard drive.

    For an OS that's supposed to be innovative and cutting edge, Linux is really dropping the ball on this one!

    --
    Socialism: A feeling of discontent and resentment caused by a desire for the possessions or qualities of another.
    1. Re:STILL waiting for... by jtshaw · · Score: 5, Informative

      Go to the Low-level SCSI drivers in the kernel. It is under the Device Drivers->SCSI Devices section. There exists and option that might make you happy:

      [*] Serial ATA (SATA) support
      ServerWorks Frodo / Apple K2 SATA support (EXPERIMENTAL) (NEW)
      Intel PIIX/ICH SATA support
      Promise SATA support (NEW)
      VIA SATA support

    2. Re:STILL waiting for... by GrubInCan · · Score: 3, Informative

      Mandrake 9.2 is happily running on a my DELL with a SATA drive.

    3. Re:STILL waiting for... by Trolling4Columbine · · Score: 1
      Would it be that hard to make SATA an option on the install, along with the rest of the IDE controllers?

      I'm admittedly not as literate in kernel negotiation as I'd like to be (I'd sorta have to have a good install to work from in the first place, don't ya think?), but I'm sure I'm not the only one frustrated by the extra work ya have to do to get basic functionality to work.

      And thanks to the mod who modded my original post down. I guess it's easier to moderate questions down than to answer them. But then I guess that's par for the course in OSS tech support!

      --
      Socialism: A feeling of discontent and resentment caused by a desire for the possessions or qualities of another.
    4. Re:STILL waiting for... by Trolling4Columbine · · Score: 1

      Did it detect the SATA controller on setup? If so, consider my rant retracted.

      --
      Socialism: A feeling of discontent and resentment caused by a desire for the possessions or qualities of another.
    5. Re:STILL waiting for... by Apreche · · Score: 2, Informative

      There is support for SATA drives. In face it was a 2.4 kernel patch also. Now it's official and full on in 2.6. The trick is that you actually have to configure your kernel to include the support for your particular controller. So for me with my Abit NF7-S I have to include support for Silicon Image disk controllers in my config.

      So yeah official native SATA support is in there, and it works well too!

      --
      The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
    6. Re:STILL waiting for... by Advocadus+Diaboli · · Score: 1

      SATA is not an issue of the hard disk drive, its an issue of the SATA controller chip. The new kernel support several of them, but for example I'm fighting with a Dual Opteron Workstation that has a Silicom Image 3114, and that's not working as well. I found a patch on the LKML that enables at least 2 of the 4 SATA channels, but its far away from booting from SATA actually. Unfortunately Silicon Image is only distribution binary modules for an outdated kernel version and no source. And the controller spec is available under NDA only, so I try not to read it otherwise I could gain knowledge that I'm not allowed to use for patching the driver. Well, I sent a notice to Silicon Image as well asking for source or free specs. :-)

    7. Re:STILL waiting for... by Trolling4Columbine · · Score: 0, Troll
      "The trick is that you actually have to configure your kernel to include the support for your particular controller."

      Unacceptable. Plain and simple.

      Wouldn't that imply that I'd have a working kernel to work with? I don't think you understood my gripe: I can't INSTALL it on an SATA drive! So how can I modify a kernel I can't even install in the first place??

      --
      Socialism: A feeling of discontent and resentment caused by a desire for the possessions or qualities of another.
    8. Re:STILL waiting for... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And thanks to the mod who modded my original post down. I guess it's easier to moderate questions down than to answer them. But then I guess that's par for the course in OSS tech support!

      To be fair, the topic of this article is the new 2.6 kernel. All your talk about support during "the install" makes it sound like you're taking about current distros and their "old" 2.4 kernels (As someone else pointed out, the 2.6 kernel _does_ have SATA support!) In other words, you're offtopic.

      Now, I'm not sure that this is how you got modded down. I didn't bother to check. But why do you think a post about current distros and their 2.4 kernels is relevant to a discussion of the 2.6 kernel?

    9. Re:STILL waiting for... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Would it be that hard to make SATA an option on the install, along with the rest of the IDE controllers?

      No it wouldn't be hard. Well time travel could be difficult..

      Look, 2.6 has been stable for all of a couple of weeks. Any distro currently available is using 2.4. You won't see any 2.6 distros for a month or two. SATA support is new in 2.6 and is not available in 2.4, which is why none of your distros have an option to install support for SATA drives.

    10. Re:STILL waiting for... by prell · · Score: 1

      [STILL waiting for...] Native support for SATA hard drives!

      This concerned me, as I am upgrading to a new rig, with an SATA HDD. I did a quick google, and found these articles:

      http://lwn.net/Articles/52488/

      http://kerneltrap.org/node/view/1787

      Now, my new motherboard is ICH5 (the uber-clockable P4 2.4C is too good a deal to pass up; sorry AMD), so I assume if I had an installer with the 2.6.0 kernel (released in December, please let me know if my assumption is incorrect), I could get things up and running. I'm thinking I'll give the latest dev Debian distribution a shot. Any success stories?

    11. Re:STILL waiting for... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      "But why do you think a post about current distros and their 2.4 kernels is relevant to a discussion of the 2.6 kernel?"

      Because as a somewhat Joe-Sixpack-ish user, I did not realize that these were two separate issues.

      I guess I'll just have to get/wait for a distribution with a kernel that supports SATA. As someone else suggested, Mandrake 9.2 may be one, and that's all the help I would have needed.

      It's much more helpful for users like me to have things explained, than to be flamed/modded down and called a retard too stupid to be using Linux.

    12. Re:STILL waiting for... by sgbett · · Score: 1

      Thats not a fault of the kernel thats the distro monkeys. Slackware seemed to work fine for me. Are you sure you've tried ALL of the distros, ther's a lot of them ...

      --
      Invaders must die
    13. Re:STILL waiting for... by Advocadus+Diaboli · · Score: 1
      Now, my new motherboard is ICH5 (the uber-clockable P4 2.4C is too good a deal to pass up; sorry AMD), so I assume if I had an installer with the 2.6.0 kernel (released in December, please let me know if my assumption is incorrect), I could get things up and running.

      Even with a SuSE 9.0 and 2.4.x kernel I had no problem on my ICH5-SATA-drives. In my case the BIOS setup of the board offered a mode that the SATA drives were mapped into the parallel ATA "namespace" so that I was able to run them like normal IDE drives. Just check out your BIOS setup on that thing, I guess that "mapping feature" is a basic feature of ICH5 based systems. On the other hand with the 2.4.x-kernel I didn't succeed on VIA VT8237 controllers or even the Silicon Image 3114.

    14. Re:STILL waiting for... by 3riol · · Score: 2, Informative

      Just a bit of reality-reminding here:

      Linux is code, not a living thing: it does not drop balls on anything.

      Neither is Linux an OS. It is a POSIX-like kernel used by a number of OSs, and does not include any other software.

      As such there is no such thing as "the Linux installer". Every distribution has its own installer (usually developed by their own staff), which is entirely independent of the kernel, Linux.

      As for "dropping the ball", SATA support had been up and running for a long time in the 2.5.* development kernels, and is now in Linux 2.6.* (which if you look at the title is the subject of this story, though it doesn't appear to even remotely be the subject of your post).

      It is probable the distributions you have tried did not include a 2.6.* version of Linux, nor the patch for the 2.4.* versions that has been mentioned here. I believe the Fedora Core 1 distribution does include Linux 2.6 : you may have better luck with that one.

      This said, please either refrain from criticizing the developers for nonexistent failures and situations they are not responsible for, or go trumpet your ignorance elsewhere.

    15. Re:STILL waiting for... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I just looked at the Mandrake site, and 9.2 is based on the 2.4.x kernel, which suggests to me that you didn't install it on your SATA drive.

    16. Re:STILL waiting for... by JanneM · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Well, no distribution uses the 2.6 kernel yet (it is only a month old, after all). All of them are still using the 2.4 kernel - and while some of them do backport stuff from development kernels (like Redhat moving the new threading lib to their distro), none would likely move something so disruptive as a new IDE subsystem to 2.4.

      That said, the next redhat distro (Fedora Core 2) will use the 2.6 kernel and will be out in April or thereabouts. So, you will not need to wait for too long to get good support for your hardware.

      --
      Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
    17. Re:STILL waiting for... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You sir should get modded -5 bitch...

    18. Re:STILL waiting for... by dossen · · Score: 2, Informative

      You just boot from a floppy or CD with at least modular support for the controller, compile the new kernel and install. As 2.6.x becomes the default for for distros, the drivers will either be compiled in or put in initrd on the installer kernels, same as all other unusual storage device drivers. How is this different from SCSI controlers or IDE-RAID contollers?
      If your favorite distro have 2.6.x but doesn't have an ISO or floppy out with the SATA driver available, ask them. Is that too hard?
      Or do you want the kernel, the vanilla kernel.org kernel, to force me to compile every SATA driver (and to be fair: every NIC, SCSI, IDE, etc. driver), just to insure that it will be there for you to install with? I'm fairly sure (but no kernel handy, so I can't check) that you could compile a kernel without drivers for standard IDE controllers, there just ain't many good reasons to do so on x86.

    19. Re:STILL waiting for... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thank you, that's all I needed to hear :)

    20. Re:STILL waiting for... by Ktulu_03 · · Score: 1

      That new Mandrake 10 preview edition or cooker contains a 2.6 kernel by default, those might work with your SATA hardware.

    21. Re:STILL waiting for... by FuzzyBad-Mofo · · Score: 1

      You'd have to install on another machine (or use a PCI IDE apaptor), then move the HDD to your SATA machine. You wanna play with bleeding edge hardware on Linux, you're gonna pay the consequences of being an early adopter. :)

    22. Re:STILL waiting for... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Based on the 2.4.x kernel. With lots of backports of other stuff. Actually, though Mandrake only installs on Dell SATA if you type "nodma" at the initial installer boot prompt. It DOES install once you know that, though (and AFAIK you CAN reenable DMA once you get it installed)

    23. Re:STILL waiting for... by Xugumad · · Score: 1

      Fedora Core 1 is 2.4.22 with misc patches. Having said that, while I couldn't tell you off hand, I'm pretty sure that includes Serial-ATA support.

    24. Re:STILL waiting for... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bleeding edge? SATA is over 2 years old...

    25. Re:STILL waiting for... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It was my understanding that SATA controllers are software compatable with the old PCI P-ATA controllers E.g. the register layout & functions are exactly the same? There are a few differences (No slave devices on a SATA channel for instance) and some additional features which can be used with SATA drives, but in theory any SATA controller should work with any old bog-standard PCI ATA driver.

    26. Re:STILL waiting for... by sk8king · · Score: 1

      My new computer I just purchased came with XP installed on an SATA drive. I was going to re-install right away anyway, so I installed Suse 9.0 Pro and it detected the drive wothout problem. Trying to do windows XP on the primary partition was the difficult part. It needed a disk full of drivers for the SATA drive before it would stop complaining about no mass storage device being detected or available.

    27. Re:STILL waiting for... by Linux_ho · · Score: 2, Informative
      And thanks to the mod who modded my original post down. I guess it's easier to moderate questions down than to answer them. But then I guess that's par for the course in OSS tech support!
      1) As other people have pointed out, your question isn't applicable to the current discussion since the topic of discussion already supports SATA.

      2) OSS tech support is excellent, if you go to the right place. *Slashdot is almost never the right place*. If you have a general question about RedHat, look for RedHat discussion groups on RedHat's web site, or pay RedHat their fees to provide general support. If you're using Mandrake and you're not sure where else to look, there are "newbie" mailing lists specifically for Mandrake. Once you have gotten your feet wet and you have some idea where to look for the free support (for instance, discussion groups and mailing lists currently discussing the 2.4 kernel or if you're lucky, SATA specific discussions) it is generally excellent. The more topic-focused the discussion group is, the higher level of knowledge you'll find there, generally. You just have to ask the right people. Use Google to find them.
      --
      include $sig;
      1;
    28. Re:STILL waiting for... by destiney · · Score: 1

      Would it be that hard to make SATA an option on the install, along with the rest of the IDE controllers?

      It's quite possible once they become more mainstream than not.

      (I'd sorta have to have a good install to work from in the first place, don't ya think?)

      Then you might wanna stick with Mandrake or Fedora.

      And thanks to the mod who modded my original post down. I guess it's easier to moderate questions down than to answer them. But then I guess that's par for the course in OSS tech support!

      Dealing with n00bs all day makes people bitter, go figure..

    29. Re:STILL waiting for... by Brandybuck · · Score: 1

      Native support for SATA hard drives!

      You guys are STILL having problems with that! Looking at the other replies, it looks like you do have it, but you need special kernel modules. Aaaargh!

      Let me give you a hint. Use FreeBSD-5.x. (5.2 due this month). SATA drives just work. Out. Of. The. Box. Without the need for any special kernel modules. Without the need for reconfiguring or rebuilding the kernel. And it's on the install CD, so you don't need to fiddle with your BIOS to install it.

      --
      Don't blame me, I didn't vote for either of them!
    30. Re:STILL waiting for... by Overly+Critical+Guy · · Score: 1, Informative

      Ah, a GNU/Linux weenie.

      Neither is Linux an OS. It is a POSIX-like kernel used by a number of OSs, and does not include any other software.

      No, Linux IS an operating system. It's the system operating my computer and allowing me to run software on it. I run a command shell, X, and other utilities. The thing actually running on my computer and allowing me to use it is the Linux kernel I compiled, along with its drivers and utilities.

      --
      "Sufferin' succotash."
    31. Re:STILL waiting for... by urmensch · · Score: 1

      Can I patch kernel 2.6 with FreeBSD?

    32. Re:STILL waiting for... by Brandybuck · · Score: 1
      --
      Don't blame me, I didn't vote for either of them!
    33. Re:STILL waiting for... by urmensch · · Score: 1

      I knew that was coming! :P

    34. Re:STILL waiting for... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Of course, if you redefine "operating system", you can not but be correct in that context...

      "I run a command shell, X, and other utilities. The thing actually running on my computer [...] is the Linux kernel"

      What is running on your computer?

      Also, can you operate your computer with the kernel alone?

      this is not a question of usage of the term "Linux", but a question of technical comprehension of the components of an operating system.

    35. Re:STILL waiting for... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This, THIS, is informative? I call bullshit. Overly Critical Guy does nothing but bash open source and linux--I seriously doubt he runs it EVER. This is nothing than a blatant karma whore attempt (which seems to have succeeded).

      Moderators: For shame! But then again, I suppose it's asking too much for you to do your homework WRT OCG.

    36. Re:STILL waiting for... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sorry, reply is directed at parent post, not at AC.

    37. Re:STILL waiting for... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There was evidence to prove that Overly Critical Guy is a lying cocksucker, but he deleted it. Think independently.

  15. My Patch by Neon+Spiral+Injector · · Score: 1, Informative

    Damn, my patch didn't make it in. It was the first kernel patch I ever wrote. It was just a two-liner, but I was told to submit it to Linus. I later simplified it to a one-liner. I guess it was too close to the deadline.

    Here's hoping for 2.6.2!

    1. Re:My Patch by kj0rn · · Score: 1

      for those of us who don't know, tell us what it looks like in the kernal. Is it scruffy and mind bending? Or is everything sparkling and clean. Or is it friendly and humerous? How did you find patching it? Easy? kjorn

    2. Re:My Patch by Neon+Spiral+Injector · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Well I've been poking around in the kernel for years now. Mostly just trying things other people have told me to do to fix what ever problem I was having. Then I'd say, "yeah, that fixed it", and the author of said code would submit the patch.

      This time, I attempted to do the same. But the author didn't tell me much of what to do at all. So I just started looking at the one function he pointed me to. I ended up surprising myself. I found I could easily follow what was going on, and quickly found my problem. I tried a fix, and it worked. I reported back to the author, that I fixed my problem and how, and he asked me to submit a patch to Linus.

      I've used to think of the kernel as some beast, full of black magic. Some of the parts dealing with broken hardware, are a little arcane. But the more I look at it, the more I see that most of it is just C. Now that Linus is subscribed to the linux-kernel mailing list, I see more developers interacting with him. He really does have good taste in code.

    3. Re:My Patch by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 5, Interesting

      You sir are what Linux is all about :)

      Thank you for fixing our code and making it a little more stable for us all. Hopefully your comments will spur others to have a peek under the hood and see what they can discover.

      --
      liqbase :: faster than paper
    4. Re:My Patch by kj0rn · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I agree.

      I've had a look at some open source code, and I found it pleasently easy to understand. But better yet was the entheusiasm of the other developers to help me help them.

      But the best is seeing people use the code. *warm and fuzzy*

      j

  16. Security, Stability and Performance by Eisenfaust · · Score: 1

    Is it safe to assume that 2.6.1 is stable and secure to use, or would it be more reasonable to wait until it enters more main stream usage and possible problems are exposed?

    Have there been any articles or reviews comparing the performance of various kernel versions? I'd find it interesting how much progress has been made in areas such as network throughput, disk access, etc. I guess its possible there isn't any more room for progress in some areas, I would find that interesting too.

    --
    Grrrrr... don't bother me, I'm thinking.
    1. Re:Security, Stability and Performance by SQLz · · Score: 2, Informative
      Is it safe to assume that 2.6.1 is stable and secure to use, or would it be more reasonable to wait until it enters more main stream usage and possible problems are exposed?

      That was the point of the whole 2.6.0 test series. The reason they did that was because it was likely that someone who wouldn't touch 2.5 with a ten foot pool would run 2.6 text X, and they did. 2.6.0 probably had more testing than any other kernel. I've been using it on two machines ince test1, the only problem I encountered was that DRI was broke in 1 release.

      Have there been any articles or reviews comparing the performance of various kernel versions? I'd find it interesting how much progress has been made in areas such as network throughput, disk access, etc. I guess its possible there isn't any more room for progress in some areas, I would find that interesting too.

      There are many benchmarks that illistrate how much better 2.6.0 is than 2.4. You can always boot to it and see for yourself and then switch back to 2.4 if you have problems. Just make your old kernel the second option in Grub/Lilo so you can go back and remove 2.6. You might be able to find more info on Kerneltrap.org

      I'm not how how important network throughput and disk access are since they don't have much to do with the kernel and more to do with the network interface and filesystem respectively.

    2. Re:Security, Stability and Performance by Dionysus · · Score: 1

      If you run 2.6.0 with Sony Vaio laptop, there are som sound and mouse problems (some timing issues). And pci pnp doesn't work. Just downloaded 2.6.1, and pci pnp still doesn't work. Still playing around with sound and mouse.

      --
      Je ne parle pas francais.
    3. Re:Security, Stability and Performance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm running 2.6.0-test9 (Debian) in a Vaio notebook since it was released and almost everything is working (mouse, sound, sonypi, usb, firewire, CD/DVD and floppy in the base station). The only device that isn't tested in modem because the driver for Conexant HSF softmodem is not free anymore.

  17. important fixes summary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    To Sum it up:

    o lots of USB-Updates, eg. for storage-devices and BUGS
    o seeking in /proc/net/tcp fixed
    o some more use-after-free()-fixes
    o [libata promise] fix another ugly bug (for those who use it)
    o lots of misc small fixes
    o lots of ARM stuff
    o dvb: Update DVB core (and more stuff, for those video-people)
    o Fix via686a/KX133 TSC failure (for ppl with an Abit KA7/KA7-100 etc)
    o Fix memleak on execve failure (memleaks are always bad)
    o cpuqfreq stuff/additions
    o "at least" one important X86-64 fix
    o mremap() security fix

    1. Re:important fixes summary by lawpoop · · Score: 4, Funny
      And most importantly:
      • [PATCH] USB: Add Lego USB Infrared Tower driver
      • [PATCH] USB: fix up formatting problems in the legotower driver.Basically fixed up spaces to tabs problems.
      • [PATCH] USB: give legotower driver a real USB minor, and remove unneeded ioctl function.

      Now I can finally get my legotower working!

      --
      Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.
      -- Pablo Picasso
    2. Re:important fixes summary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      WTF is a legotower? Sounds horribly dorky.

  18. Finally, the patch party is over (for now). by graf0z · · Score: 4, Insightful
    2.4-patches i regulary used:

    I got really tired of applying combinations of those patches to newest kernel source (due to security issues). They 're now all included to 2.6! Only MPPE-support seems still to lack.

    They must have beaten up Linus to get all those accepted ...

    /graf0z.

    1. Re:Finally, the patch party is over (for now). by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I was hoping they where going to include MPPE in 2.6, for some odd reason, those patchs are such a bitch to make work.

    2. Re:Finally, the patch party is over (for now). by phlawed · · Score: 3, Interesting
      ....not. This is what I add to 2.6.1:

      • bttv/v4l patch

        bluez kernel patch (bluetooth)

        matrox frame buffer patch

        alsa 1.0.1 kernel patch

        hostap (accesspoint sw for prism hardware)

        qc-usb (quickcam express driver)
      --
      Dag B
    3. Re:Finally, the patch party is over (for now). by jbr439 · · Score: 1

      Why, oh why, is MPPE not in the kernel? Indeed, why was it not in the 2.4 kernel? The patch to ppp_generic and the one header file is minimal. Yet, if I want to be able to use my home linux box to access my employer's Windows based network, I have to patch the kernel.

      Could someone please explain its absence?

    4. Re:Finally, the patch party is over (for now). by ookaze · · Score: 1

      You forgot the supermount patch :)

    5. Re:Finally, the patch party is over (for now). by firewrought · · Score: 1
      The kernel mailing list archive is probably online somewhere. Why not check it and research what people said about it?

      You can also check out kernel traffic, which has weekly summaries of the major events and decisions that occur on the list. This is probably your best bet, not that you're going to like the answer.

      --
      -1, Too Many Layers Of Abstraction
    6. Re:Finally, the patch party is over (for now). by oohp · · Score: 1

      The matrox framebuffer patch renders 2.6.0 uncompilable for me.

    7. Re:Finally, the patch party is over (for now). by Trevelyan · · Score: 1

      Packet CD/DVD-RW support ie use your cd-rw like a floppy disk

    8. Re:Finally, the patch party is over (for now). by Moritz+Moeller+-+Her · · Score: 1
      I just add the acpi-DSDT-initrd patch, because my IBM Thinkpad R31 has a BROKEN BIOS. And IBM won't do a fscking thing about it. So I have to fix it myself.

      Unfortunately the linux-2.6.1 kernel is still broken, the mousepointer is having fits, whenever the temperature or battery are monitored via ACPI. Still waiting.....

      --
      Moritz
  19. re: Jumped on a plain to Australia by smsp · · Score: 0

    Wow, he must be really insecure about this one if he had to run away...

  20. Turgid Troll, or a real deal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is this just a turgid troll, or Linus is really enlightening us? Linus, don't you spell your last name with Torvals?

    1. Re:Turgid Troll, or a real deal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      YHBT YHL HAND

  21. UML? by Slashamatic · · Score: 4, Informative
    Ok, maybe it does seem stupid, but sometimes you are cursed to a Windows wokstation by corporate policy. Sometimes you are not permitted admin access even to the local system and Knoppix isn't permitted.

    Cygwin is great but a full linux would be even better. In theory at least, User Mode Linux should be able to run under Windows. Possibly with a MinGW compile under Cygwin so after building, it doesn't need the Cygwin layer.

    1. Re:UML? by Eisenfaust · · Score: 1

      I run mandrake 9.1 under windows XP in VMWARE at work. I have a fast machine with tons of RAM so its just like having a dedicated linux box.

      --
      Grrrrr... don't bother me, I'm thinking.
    2. Re:UML? by gl4ss · · Score: 4, Funny

      well..

      there is a project on sourceforge http://line.sourceforge.net/

      * LINE Is Not an Emulator

      LINE executes unmodified Linux applications on Windows by intercepting Linux system calls. The Linux applications themselves are not emulated. They run directly on the CPU just like all other Windows applications.

      Status
      Current version: 0.5
      Release date: May 29, 2001

      LINE IS ALPHA SOFTWARE *

      though, now I should get off my ass and compile 2.6.1..

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    3. Re:UML? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Sometimes you are not permitted admin access even to the local system and Knoppix isn't permitted.

      Well then I won't know a damn thing about using computers. Not even how to turn one on. I'll need lots of hand-holding and repeated step-by-step instructions. Probably better get me a Selectric. And where is the adding machine at?

      Treat me like I don't know anything and I may bloody well act like I don't know anything. That'll teach you.

    4. Re:UML? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny
      ... cursed to a Windows wokstation by corporate policy.

      WTF?

      I am what most people would consider a highly trained technical professional. Unlike most people who spout off at this site, I have the certificates to prove this, and furthermore they're issued by the biggest software company in existence.

      I know how to tell facts from marketing fluff. Now, here are the facts as they're found by SEVERAL INDEPENDENT RESEARCH INSTITUTES:

      Expenses for file-server workloads under Windows, compared to LinuxOS:
      • Staffing expenses were 33.5% better.
      • Training costs were 32.3% better.


      They compared Microsofts IIS to the Linux 7.0 webserver. For Windows, the cost was only:
      • $40.25 per megabit of throughput per second.
      • $1.79 per peak request per second.


      Application development and support costs for Windows compared to an opensores solution like J2EE:
      • 28.2% less for large enterprises.
      • 25.0% less for medium organizations.


      A full Windows installation, compared to installing Linux, on an Enterprise Server boxen:
      • Is nearly three hours faster.
      • Requires 77% fewer steps.


      Compared to the best known opensores webserver "Red Hat", Microsoft IIS:
      • Has 276% better peak performance for static transactions.
      • Has 63% better peak performance for dynamic content.


      These are hard numbers and 100% FACTS! There are several more where these came from.

      Who do you think we professionals trust more?
      Reliable companies with tried and tested products, or that bedroom coder Thorwalds who publicly admits that he is in fact A HACKER???

      --
      Copyright (c) 2004 Mike Bouma, MCSE, MCDST, MS Office Specialist

      Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
      under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2
      or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation;
      with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover
      Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU
      Free Documentation License".
    5. Re:UML? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In theory at least, User Mode Linux should be able to run under Windows.
      Sounds like what you may need is GNU/Linux without Linux?

    6. Re:UML? by velco · · Score: 1

      Hey, who modded this down ?! It's hilarious!! Even more when you realize the poor schmuck actually believes in it ! :)))))

      ~velco

    7. Re:UML? by Slashamatic · · Score: 1

      VMWARE requires Admin privs under Windows. I'm looking for something that requires none.

    8. Re:UML? by drinkypoo · · Score: 2, Interesting
      linux will run in bochs. bochs can supposedly be accelerated with plex86, though I've never actually seen an implementation of this anywhere. And in theory, it should be possible (though perhaps much harder) to get all this working on windows as a linux host. I've run linux in bochs, but it was emulating the cpu, rather than virtualizing. Still, virtualization is probably the best way to go there. As for user mode linux running under windows, windows would need to have support for it.

      If Knoppix isn't permitted, and you don't have admin access, you're not going to get much mileage out of any method of running some Unix on your system.

      Cygwin is still the answer; It of course has some distance yet to go, but as far as I can tell it's the best POSIX-on-NT system around. (NT's internal POSIX.1 compliance does not help.) Primarily I'm impressed by the WAY things are done, no one is trying to make NT into things it isn't, they're just implementing additional functions and mapping them to those of NT whereever possible. This is certainly the Right Way(tm) to go about it.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    9. Re:UML? by be-fan · · Score: 1

      Its definitely a joke. He put it under the GNU FDL for god's sake!

      --
      A deep unwavering belief is a sure sign you're missing something...
    10. Re:UML? by Etyenne · · Score: 1

      In theory at least, User Mode Linux should be able to run under Windows.



      Er, no. UML is based on Linux kernel,/i> code. Obviously, Linux kernel code don't run on Windows.

      --
      :wq
    11. Re:UML? by Gordonjcp · · Score: 2, Informative

      Ahaa, not so fast, grasshopper.

      UML compiles the Linux kernel into a command-line program - the kernel is just like any other binary. You type "linux" at a prompt, it boots the kernel then mounts a large file as the filesystem (like loopback). Devices are emulated by hooks into the appropriate kernel modules (tty, or serial ports). So, virtual terminals pop up as xterms when you run it in X.

      There's no good reason why this *couldn't* be run in Windows. All you'd be doing is changing the code that draws xterms to use Windows drawing commands.

    12. Re:UML? by Slashamatic · · Score: 2, Informative
      I'm a big fan of Cygwin, it has stopped me from going insane many times. However, it isn't full Linux.

      UML runs in user mode and issues standard posix calls. Theoretically it can work under Linux to give a full workalike environment. It would be interesting to try.

    13. Re:UML? by ATMAvatar · · Score: 1

      Actually, he simply posted the highlights of Microsoft's paid-for "objective third-party information" comparison between Windows and Linux we saw posted on Tuesday.

      --
      "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
    14. Re:UML? by Ugot2BkidNme · · Score: 1

      The last version of that was released over 2.5 years ago thats archaic.

    15. Re:UML? by nandhp · · Score: 1

      Which almost certaintly isn't FDL :)

    16. Re:UML? by tyrione · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Nothing is FACT. Only an agreed upon common observation that is reproducible can be coined the term, FACT.

      When something is generally accepted or agreed upon it is then labeled a FACT.

      However, that does not infer it as being TRUTH. And what I'm seeing here is one missing piece of this pie when it comes to developers.

      Mac OS X:

      How many J2EE Developers would prefer to develop on OS X versus Linux or worst of all, Windows?

      Your comparison of IIS to Linux Server 7.0 is erroneous.

      Compare IIS to a professional configured and strategically deployed Apache 2 Load Balanced Architecture.

      Hey I can install OS X faster and guess what! IT WORKS as BILLED.

      Give me Panther Server over Win2k 2003.

      Can I install Debian flawlessly? or any other Linux Distro?

      YES. The presumed assumption is that the Administrator is equally versed in OS X, Linux and Win2k.

      Take a guess which system is the least enjoyable to Administer domains and/or update systems domain wide.

      RedHat isn't the best OSS Web Server. RedHat isn't even a WebServer.

      Compare it to Apache2 as I said above.

      Observation:

      The afformentioned individual is lacking in breadth of technical skills and is deeply embedded in depth alone of only one choice of platform--Win2k.

      Useless Statistics.

    17. Re:UML? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      YHBT, HAND.

    18. Re:UML? by Slashamatic · · Score: 1

      Ironically, where I have been working we had X under Windows (Hummingbird eXceed), so what would be really nice would be to use networking to talk to the host O/S. The interesting bit would be to get the UML system networked to Windows. On the same box!

    19. Re:UML? by teval · · Score: 1

      MS Office Specialist

      Umm.... I never knew they had specialists?
      And an MCSE (which is a joke) along with an MCDST which is another joke, coupled with the MS Office Specialist make you look stupid.

      Just... the fact that you mentioned MS Office as a qualification makes you look bad.

      People really need to start using the word specialist most strictly.

      And.. TYPEING LIKE THIS doesn't make you look any smarter. The.. '????'s don't help either.

      100% Facts.. neat. I'd love to see which company made these reports, a link? thanks
      Any company that could make reports 100% accurate has got to be by far the richest in the world.

      Reliable companies with tried and tested products, or that bedroom coder Thorwalds who publicly admits that he is in fact A HACKER???

      And.. that was your ultimate descent from normal respectable (kind of) person, to idiot (no offence intended)

      Try to spell the man's name right at least, it's Trovalds, and he likes to be called Linus rather than his last name.

      Which are these reliable companies you speak of? I'm really curious, last I checked MS was lying about as fast as it could (you can't even say it never lied)

      Tried and tested? That's good, if they would actually fix the bugs.

      And.. bedroom coder? The man worked for Transmetra with a very serious job, and has a Comp. Sci. degree.

      The reference to the entire hacker thing.. was kind of pointless too. (You'd have to put up your definition of the word before you'd receive a proper critique of all that)

    20. Re:UML? by Slashamatic · · Score: 1

      The joke is that I had root access on some AIX boxes which were generating data. Regrettably the version of AIX was sufficiently prehistoric, that I lusted after some modern utilities. I ended up d/lk the stuff onto my desktop WIndoze box and working under Cygwin which is close, but sometimes not close enough.

    21. Re:UML? by jamesh · · Score: 1

      i think it was a joke.

    22. Re:UML? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Is there a point to telling my parent he has been trolled.... no, not really.

    23. Re:UML? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Parent should be insightful +1 tragic.

      It's really sad no one fixed up LINE better.
      Imagine a full Redhat running native under Windows.

    24. Re:UML? by neonmagic · · Score: 1

      oh dearie me...

      MCSE/MCP et al do NOT guarantee that you know what you're doing or talking about. I have a mate working for IBM who's MCSE qualified and when he gets a problem he messages me...go figure.

      It's Mr. Linus Torvalds. Please, if you *must* troll, then get it right. It's only a name, it surely can't be that hard to spell it right? If you can't spell, then I'd hate to see your abilities at using a computer for any effective processes of work. And Mr Torvalds has done a lot more than you can show me proof of kind sir. Have you written an operating system? mmm?

      Opinions can, an do, in the business world get 'bought'. Bribed. However you want to say it. As my Mathematics teacher in high school said, 'statistics are lies. They can be made to illustrate whatever point you want to illustrate'. He was a damn well good maths teacher imho in more ways than one. His frequent comment was "calculators make you dumb, use your brain". How true. Have you been using a calculator a lot of late sir?

      Also, please don't shout. It's rude. Or don't they teach that in MCSE classes?

      What is Linux 7.0 webserver? Open source web serving uses Apache as far as I know. That's the equivalent of IIs. Funny 65% of webservers use Apache and that number is growing! Businesses aren't stupid generally, they make decisions based on what will make them the most money. Not the least. That suggests to me that using IIs will result in a loss of income when compared to using Apache.

      Please have a look at www.netcraft.com. The longest running websites are running some form of *nix. BSD, Linux, Solaris etc. And nearly ALL of them are running Apache. Doesn't bode well for Microsoft reliability, no?

      Quote:

      Expenses for file-server workloads under Windows, compared to LinuxOS:

      Staffing expenses were 33.5% better.

      Training costs were 32.3% better.

      Well, well, well...maybe if they're going from incompetent Microsoft Windows users to Linux. But MOST of these instances will be companies deploying Linux to replace Unix. Unix & Linux are very similar in many respects, and someone competent in Unix will almost certainly feel quite at home using Linux. And i'm sure they won't require a lot of training either. So this comment is very much bollocks.

      Hacker. By definition that is someone who writes code. You are mistakingly (like most of your humourous and idiotic post) are thinking of cracker. Please, if you *must* work in the IT industry, then at least make a modicum of effort to get things right.

      Biggest isn't always best either (in your reference to having certification from the biggest software company in existence...). Certificates do not guarantee you are professional. I don't like being offended by your tones that i'm not professional, nor knowledgeable because I do not have overpriced and irrelevant certification.

      Oh and one final thing:

      Copyright (c) 2004 Mike Bouma, MCSE, MCDST, MS Office Specialist

      I had to laugh at this. You have straight copied from the Microsoft website. They own copyright on that, not you. You haven't even mentioned copyright of copied text belongs to Microsoft you naughty Microsoft Troll.

      Grow a brain and actually use it is my suggestion to you. Certification does NOT make you a god, nor does it make you good.

      Dave W Pastern

      --
      Slashdot can go and get fucked.
    25. Re:UML? by Kent+Recal · · Score: 1

      Try to spell the man's name right at least, it's Trovalds, and he likes to be called Linus rather than his last name.
      *cough*

    26. Re:UML? by Gordonjcp · · Score: 1

      Well, again, UML uses a userspace daemon that acts as a "virtual switch" to connect it to a network device on the host. So this shouldn't be too difficult.

  22. ALSA? by FyRE666 · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Let's hope they've fixed ALSA in this release then. I was surprised when I tried using it with 2.6.0 and it seems full of broken drivers. Of course, downloading ALSA and building it the same way I would with 2.4.x works fine! I'm thinking they should either try to include the latest ALSA driver code in the kernel, or just leave it out so that it can be built separately...

    1. Re:ALSA? by radixvir · · Score: 1

      are you talking about the stuttering sound alot of people have reported (including myself) with mythtv? if so i dont know that the new kernel fixed it but heres how i did: leave sound enabled in the bios, but uncheck alsa. rebuild. now download the newly released alsa-driver 1.0.1. build and install these

    2. Re:ALSA? by Tagren · · Score: 0

      Hello!

      They have uppdated to alsa 1.0.1 in the 2.6.1-mm1.
      Wich is not a *stable* version... but sortof a testing ground for new patches.

      2.6.0/1 use alsa 0.9.7 i think

      $ cat /usr/src/linux-2.6.1/include/sound/version.h ...
      #define CONFIG_SND_VERSION "0.9.7" ...

      ---

    3. Re:ALSA? by cyrilc · · Score: 1

      I'm actually running 2.6.1 and for the first time since 2.5.45 I'm noticing a noise in my speakers (ens1371 sound card under Alsa)

      so for now I'll stick with 2.6.0 which just work fine

    4. Re:ALSA? by Dimensio · · Score: 1

      I don't have any major ALSA bugs, but I noticed that I cannot make /dev/sequencer work with my emu10k1 device unless several things are compiled as modules rather than built into the kernel. I've still not figured out why this is, but since I don't mind loading modules when necessary, it's not an issue for me (at least, it wasn't once I determined the problem).

    5. Re:ALSA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Alsa 1.0.1 was included today in 2.6.1-mm1 but surely it will make its way into 2.6.2.

  23. Release and Run by Dagrush · · Score: 0, Funny

    So he releases the kernel and runs away. what does he know that we don't?

    1. Re:Release and Run by Bake · · Score: 1

      ... And what's this "blow_computer_up()" I found grepping the source?

  24. 2.6.x drivers by nycsubway · · Score: 1

    Is there a place where someone can find a list of the hardware that is supported by the 2.6.x kernel? I have been able to find hardware compatability lists for the 2.4.x kernel on redhat and mandrake's websites, but I have not found anything for the 2.6 kernel.

    1. Re:2.6.x drivers by Advocadus+Diaboli · · Score: 1
      Is there a place where someone can find a list of the hardware that is supported by the 2.6.x kernel?

      What about the kernel source? :-)

      make menuconfig or the GUI configurators can give you a good idea what hardware is supported.

    2. Re:2.6.x drivers by ISayWeOnlyToBePolite · · Score: 1

      The hardware compability lists are so outdated it's not even funny.If you're shopping for hardware don't look for compability first, it will make your head spinn. Decide what you'd like to have and then google (beware that very few hits can mean it's worked flawless. Kernel changelogs are always good, pay attention to who's kernel it is, it may not be mainline).

    3. Re:2.6.x drivers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There were a lot of drivers broken in the transition to 2.6 -- in particular it sounds like old SCSI drivers bit the dust hard. Has the config screen been updated to reflect what actually is supported?

      Note: People want to know what hardware really "works". Not "has a half-assed unmaintained driver".

  25. up, up and away ... by torpor · · Score: 1

    ... 'with TAA' ...

    its those little 'cultural synchronicities' that make linus such a fun person to know ;) ... as an aussie who grew up in the 70's, linus' quip at the end just rings a bell.

    canny finns.

    --
    ; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
    1. Re:up, up and away ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ahh yes you old fart - this describes me too and knowing who is the 'friendly friendly way' definately shows our ages.... :)

  26. Slackware kernel compile guide available by G3ckoG33k · · Score: 4, Informative

    Slackware kernel 2.6.x compile/upgrade guide available here.

  27. Any thoughts on the stability of 2.6 ? by ru-486 · · Score: 1

    Anyone running 2.6 in a heavy load environment? Specfically, a database such as oracle/informix/db2 in a large data warehousing or OLTP environment. I've had above average performance and reliability with 2.4 and although I don't see myself upgrading to 2.6 soon, I am pretty curious as to how things have developed.

    1. Re:Any thoughts on the stability of 2.6 ? by diegocgteleline.es · · Score: 1

      See the http://www.osdl.org/projects/26lnxstblztn/results/ It's full of such benchmarks. In the "2.5 stability effort", they have a 2.5.66 box with 231 days of uptime (another two with 168 and 102 uptime). There're also links to database benchmarks.

  28. Some facts 'n figures by bwindle2 · · Score: 5, Informative
    This patch weighs in at 4.1 megs... there are 998 files changed, 40596 insertions, 50838 deletions.

    That's a heck of a lot of changes for a "stable" kernel.

    1. Re:Some facts 'n figures by 10Ghz · · Score: 1

      Just about all those patches have been in the -mm kernel for a long time. They have been tested and then tested some more.

      --
      Lesbian Nazi Hookers Abducted by UFOs and Forced Into Weight Loss Programs - -all next week on Town Talk.
    2. Re:Some facts 'n figures by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 1

      All those changes are replacing "SCO" with "OCS" to save everyone some money ;)

      --
      liqbase :: faster than paper
    3. Re:Some facts 'n figures by tjw · · Score: 4, Informative
      That's a heck of a lot of changes for a "stable" kernel.

      Not really. The patch isn't even large by 2.4 conventions. The biggest patch ever seems to be 2.4.20 to 2.4.21 which was around 30Mb. Keep in mind that unified patches are made up mostly of code that hasn't changed surrounding the code that has.
      --

      XJS*C4JDBQADN1.NSBN3*2IDNEN*GTUBE-STANDARD-ANTI-UB E-TEST-EMAIL*C.34X
    4. Re:Some facts 'n figures by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > That's a heck of a lot of changes for a "stable" kernel.

      There were a lot of trivial fixes and driver merges that had been delayed during the "hard freeze" leading up to 2.6.0. Now that the tree has thawed a bit, they're all rushing in. There aren't many big, scary changes in 2.6.1 that are likely to cause problems, just that all the little changes add up in size.

  29. Dammit! by Saint+Aardvark · · Score: 4, Funny
    I just downloaded everything for -rc3 last night, compiled before going to bed, and was going to copy bzImage into place right now. And now this.

    Me: How many fingers do you have on your right hand?
    Linus: What?
    Me: Oh, how I have prepared for this moment. The coding, the studying, the kernel crashes, never seeing the sun...
    Linus: What the hell are you talking about?
    Me: My name is Saint Aardvark the Carpeted. You killed my kernel. Prepare to die.
    Linus: How the hell did you find me? Did Darl send you?
    Me: My name is Saint Aardvark the Carpeted. You killed my kernel. Prepare to die.
    Linus: ...All right, I can see you're upset. How much would it take to clear this up? Patches? A syctl named after you? The head of Alan Cox?
    Me: My name is Saint Aar--
    Linus: Stop saying that! Guards!
    Me: --killed my kernel.
    Linus: What do you want?
    Me: I want my -rc3 kernel back, you son of a bitch.

    1. Re:Dammit! by Anthony+Boyd · · Score: 1
      I want my -rc3 kernel back, you son of a bitch.

      Dear Mr. Aardvark,

      I would like to thank you for causing me to laugh so loudly and uncontrollably at work that my boss came by to see what was the matter, and immediately noticed that I was not doing anything even remotely work-related. Well, at least now I get to do all the not-work-related stuff I want.

      Yours truly,

      Mr. Anthony "Unemployed" Boyd :)

  30. Help: re-introducing myself to the intracacies.. by tommck · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This is a bit off-topic, but:

    I was an early user of Linux (1.2.8 and earlier w/ Slackware). ("Back in my day, we had to compile our own kernels!").

    Anyway, I've been screwing around again lately. I've got two machines running Mandrake 8.2 and one w/ Mandrake 9.2 (VMWare actually). Also planning on messing w/ Redhat 9 and Suse. Knoppix rules, etc.

    What I want to know is: What are the complications/problems with upgrading your kernel? I remember there being all sorts of problems with shared libraries versions since they don't have any internalized versioning system to run things side by side.

    Is it still true that I might break half the apps running on my system if I try to update my kernel?

    Please help to re-educate a guy who has lost his way.

    Thanks.

    Tom

    --
    ---- It puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again. It does this whenever it's told.
  31. BitTorrent... by teoruiz · · Score: 5, Informative

    Here.

    --
    "Res publica non dominetur"
  32. Re:Ugly version system by TheDancer · · Score: 1

    Okay, if 2.6.0 is stable, and 2.6.1 is unstable. What version number would you give to the next stable kernel when bugs are fixed (not new features, just bugs). 2.7.0? that would lead to version bloat. 2.6.0.1 ? That gets even more confusing. The current even/odd allows you to add new features to the unstable branch, while still putting in bug fixes into the stable branch, all the while keeping "major" version numbers the same.

  33. Re:Ugly version system by MoonFog · · Score: 4, Informative

    Uhm, it's the second number that determines stable or development version. 2.6.0 and 2.6.1 are both stable releases.

  34. Rawhide-Fedora by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    The rewhide version of fedora has it. If I am not mistaken.

    So you can install FC1, and then upgrade to 'unstable'. You obvioussly dont want to do this unless you want UNSTABLE!

  35. Fast by after · · Score: 1

    I got to hand it of to you guys. News gets here pretty blazing fast. A few minutes ago? Pfft, that is "fresh news" in my book.

    Good job.

    Oh, and good kernel to and stuff...

  36. 2.4 -vs- 2.6 by MobyDisk · · Score: 2, Interesting

    In looking at the changelog, I see lots of 2.4 fixes are being added into 2.6.1. I understand the kernel versions are completely parallel development paths. So does this mean there are lots of 2.4 bug fixes that are still not in 2.6? If so, I would think that might be something worth waiting for before upgrading.

    1. Re:2.4 -vs- 2.6 by cdemon6 · · Score: 1

      Consider the developement in 2.5, many major parts were redesigned so bugs that might still be in 2.4 or have been fixed there do not have to be in the 2.6 code (anymore) and so don't need to be fixed. I don't know if there were many fixed that got portet to 2.5, but the focus has definetly shifted towards 2.6, so you shouldn't worry about this too much.

  37. Heh - from Changelog: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


    Fix silly mremap test.

    Get off the drugs, Linus.

  38. Upgrading kernel by superpulpsicle · · Score: 1

    Does someone have a super easy procedure to upgrade kernels. This is something I haven't done since kernel 2.0.x. I have moved to redhat9 and I am wondering if there's an easy way about it.

    A slashdot a day keeps the doctors away - linux penguin

    1. Re:Upgrading kernel by thesman · · Score: 4, Informative

      Use APT and use Arjan's RPM repository. Cheers.

  39. Re:Ugly version system by phaze3000 · · Score: 2, Informative

    I fail to see how 2.6.1-rc3 (rc == release candidate) is confusing. rc numbering is pretty standard, even Bill's boys do it (Windows 2003 rc-1 for example).

    There's also the question of why exactly people new to Linux are compiling their own kernel rather than using that provided by their distro of course.

    For even more clarity the ftp site now has the rc-whatever releases in a 'pre-releases' subdirectory, so I really don't see an issue here.

    --
    Blaming GW Bush for the Iraq war is like blaming Ronald McDonald for the poor quality of food.
  40. Actually by Czernobog · · Score: 4, Funny

    This is a way to make the Windows 85% desktop share vanish overnight.
    Just compile the most expansive possible kernel. Package it and "sell" it to cnet as the p2p app to have. Include boot loader.
    No one reads warnings/lisenses anyway...
    And voila! 85% linux on the world's desktops overnight! And what a night it will be!
    I pity Dell support and the Indians....

    --
    /. Where the truth
    1. Re:Actually by zootread · · Score: 0, Redundant

      Just compile the most expansive possible kernel. Package it and "sell" it to cnet as the p2p app to have. Include boot loader.
      No one reads warnings/lisenses anyway...
      And voila! 85% linux on the world's desktops overnight!


      You have smoked yourself retarded.

      --
      Zoot!
  41. Re:MOD PARENT AS TROLL by IntergalacticWalrus · · Score: 1

    stop trolling

    Oh, the irony!

  42. Surprise visit to Linux.conf.au? by Totally_Tux · · Score: 1

    Linux 2.6.1 kernel? Great, compiling it now.

    Linus coming to Linux.conf.au Australia's annual Linux conference? It's soon to start next week in Adelaide! Now that would be something considering Linus isn't listed as one of the speakers. Rest assured we'll buy you a drink.

    1. Re:Surprise visit to Linux.conf.au? by davydmadeley · · Score: 1

      Linus attended last year, as an ordinary delegate. He did a 45 minute QA, and danced around in a penguin suit. That was it.
      He didn't do a keynote, and he attempted to be treated as an ordinary developer. That said, he still had a trail of fanboys.
      Although not an organiser this year, I feel I'm going to have to bring a firearm. Nothing else is likely to keep the fanboys at bay.

      If people want to fanboy, do it over Rusty Russell. He just laps it up ;)

  43. Re:Help: re-introducing myself to the intracacies. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There's all sorts of initialisation ramdisks containing kernel modules, etc, which get loaded by the boot loader - it's impressively scary for someone who's a few years behind the times.

    I prefer to leave it to the distribution people - my SuSE 9.0's had a few minor kernel upgrades done for me, and nothing's broken ye4^&g$%&

    NO CARRIER

  44. A duplicate code report... by tcopeland · · Score: 1

    ...can be found here.

    Lots of stuff to work on there... that's just the architecture directory...

  45. Re:Ugly version system by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    uh, because they can?

  46. Zip Drive Support by Ween · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Recently Linus has shown his dislike for the scsi emulator for ide devices. He went on to say that there werent any common devices that needed the scsi layer. One such device are zip drives. I use a Zip 750 in my server to backup a small but important set of data. The only way this drive will work is with the scsi emulated layer. Has this been fixed in the 2.6 kernel series (it wasnt fixed in 2.6 pre4), or does someone have another way to use this device without scsi?

    --


    Tis better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt --Abraham Lincoln
    1. Re:Zip Drive Support by _typo · · Score: 1

      ATAPI Floppy support used to work great for 100MB zips.

      --

      Pedro Côrte-Real.

    2. Re:Zip Drive Support by diegocgteleline.es · · Score: 1

      Someone (a ide tape maintainer) is looking at that.

    3. Re:Zip Drive Support by CliffH · · Score: 1

      Have you thought about upgrading your backup strategy? Not that you should change the hardware to fit the upgraded software (really, truly, this isn't sarcasm) but Zip drives aren't the most reliable things in the world (click of death). Out of the hundreds of systems I've worked on with Zip drives, about 15% have come in with click-of-death and the others were running fine. 15% is a little too high a number for me personally to stake my important data backups on. Then again, that's personal opinion and we all know the saying. :)

      Getting back to other ways to go, if you're in the US you should be able to pick up DVD +/- R/RW drives pretty cheaply (even here in NZ the price is coming down nicely) and, depending on where you get them, the mail in rebates make the things next to nothing in cost and you'll have around 4GB to play around with after formatting (on an RW). Personally, I use an older DDS-2 drive for my backups along with CD archival copies of my data which I frequently check (once a month) to make sure the CDs aren't degrading. So far, I've found one CD in about 300 that is showing signs of laser rot (moisture getting between the layers and causing the substrate to degrade, turning it a sickly yellow.. Most often happens in Laser Discs), everything else is going nicely.

      So, to sum up a long rambling post, you may want to think about either sticking to the 2.4.x series or upgrade your backup medium. Personally, if you're happy with what you have and it is a server, why bother thinking about upgrading the kernel unless absolutely necessary?

      --
      sigs are like a box of chocolates, they all suck remove the underscores to email me
    4. Re:Zip Drive Support by Dimensio · · Score: 1

      Recently Linus has shown his dislike for the scsi emulator for ide devices. He went on to say that there werent any common devices that needed the scsi layer.

      I can't use my IDE DVD-ROM drive as a reader for ripping CDs without SCSI emulation, at least not through any method that I've seen. I've also heard that IDE CD recording devices need it (I use a USB device, which also uses the SCSI layer, but it doesn't use IDE SCSI emulation).

    5. Re:Zip Drive Support by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      I can't use my IDE DVD-ROM drive as a reader for ripping CDs without SCSI emulation, at least not through any method that I've seen. I've also heard that IDE CD recording devices need it (I use a USB device, which also uses the SCSI layer, but it doesn't use IDE SCSI emulation).

      Not exactly. I have an IDE CD/DVD reader/writer which works (so far) without the SCSI emulation under the 2.6.xx kernels by using "dev=ATAPI:0,0" instead of the usual "dev=scsi-bus,target,lun" for (the latest) cdrecord. This new dev= syntax is woefully undocumented in cdrecord's docs on my Debian Sid system (I found out about it while googling for info on cdrecord). There is also the possibility that it won't work for everyone, since a lot depends on your IDE subsystem, but it should get better as more people start using it.
  47. Re:Help: re-introducing myself to the intracacies. by paroneayea · · Score: 1

    Shouldn't have any problem. I didn't have any problem when I upgraded my friend's machine from 2.4 to 2.6 (no, I still haven't done it myself... too lazy.)

    --
    http://mediagoblin.org/
  48. Re:Help!!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    meh... old and lame... please grow up and piss off... and dont claim credit for other peoples work. this was funny about two years in its original form.

  49. Re:Help: re-introducing myself to the intracacies. by the_crowbar · · Score: 4, Informative

    When I went from 2.4.xx t 2.6.0-testxx (on a Gentoo 1.4 system) I downloaded the 2.6.x kernel and checked in Documentation\Changes. That file will list several packages and the minimum version needed. It also has the command to check the version and the site to download updated packages. Once you have verified that you have the correct versions of extra software compile the new 2.6.x kernel. Boot it and see what breaks. Of course you want to keep a backup of your current working 2.4.x kernel to boot.

    As for breaking half your apps: no. I built my Gentoo system under a 2.4.x kernel and now run a 2.6.x kernel with no problems.


    the_crowbar
    --
    Have you read the Moderator Guidelines
  50. Considering trying out Linux by RebelWebmaster · · Score: 1

    I've been toying with the idea of putting Linux on my Inspiron 8200 for awhile now (n00bs gotta start somewhere :)...). How well does 2.6.x support the TrueMobile 1300? I think (don't hold me to it) that it's a Broadcom chipset.

    Also, what's the most user-friendly distro for someone really unfamiliar with Linux to start with?

    1. Re:Considering trying out Linux by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The kernel is only one piece of Linux as you probably know.

      You would be better off downloading/buying and installing a distro. Friendliest are Lindows, Xandros but you have to pay for them. Lycoris maybe. Note these are all copies of Windows and are lower technology but easy.

      Suse, Fedora, Slackware, Libranet, are better probably technically but you have to get your feet wet.

      Gentoo is my favorite but you have to be willing to want to learn about Linux guts. In the long run I think that's best as you become far more capable of fixing your own problems. (I'm not a computer programmer. I'm an ex-lawyer novelist, so you can see it's not that hard!)

      After you install a distro and get it working, then you upgrade to 2.6.1. Note that there are a bunch of things you also need to upgrade to do that. Google for 2.6 Linux upgrade.

    2. Re:Considering trying out Linux by SnapperHead · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I have 2 Broadcom NICs in my new server. They work just fine, haven't had a problem with them.

      From what I remeber, there are 2 drivers. The ones from Broadcome, which are a bitch to install and have poor performance, and the other thats in the kernel it self. Its listed as tg3. I am still running 2.4 kernel on that server, so I imagine 2.6 should work fine.

      Stock Debian kernels don't appear to have this NIC compiled in, I can't figure out for the life of me why not.

      *shrug*

      --
      until (succeed) try { again(); }
    3. Re:Considering trying out Linux by dnoyeb · · Score: 1

      Your most important concern on a laptop will be powermanagement acpi vs apm and sleep mode. currently you have to do some wild trickery and editing of bios files to get it all going on 2.4. I heart 2.6 was supposed to be better. unsure.

    4. Re:Considering trying out Linux by Junta · · Score: 1

      Actually, in my experience, tg3 is *extremely* broken compared to bcm5700 on many applicable cards. Negotiation of link state being a serious problem on some cards.

      --
      XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
    5. Re:Considering trying out Linux by sfbanutt · · Score: 1

      If you're talking about a trumobile wireless nic, you're probably out of luck if it's broadcom based. Unless things have changed recently, there is no linux support for broadcom based wireless nics (Broadcom won't release the info needed).

      --
      I've wrestled with reality for 35 years and I'm happy to say, I finally won out - Elwood P. Dowd
    6. Re:Considering trying out Linux by tomk · · Score: 1

      Try Knoppix first. It has great hardware detection based on the RedHat kudzu utility. And it runs off a CD so you don't have to screw with your existing configuration until you're sure all of your hardware will work.

      Just download and burn the iso, then boot from it.

    7. Re:Considering trying out Linux by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The TrueMobile 1300 is a broadcom chipset, and there isn't a native driver. However, check out linuxant.com. Maybe not the most ideal solution, but it will get your card up and purring happily. Both SuSE and mandrake are excellent user-friendly distros. There is a yahoo group linux-dell-laptops which you should check out. You'll get a lot of good information to help you out there.

    8. Re:Considering trying out Linux by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't bother. Dump your dell and go pick up a sweet Apple box. Once you taste OS X, you'll never go back to the shithole that is Linsux.

    9. Re:Considering trying out Linux by OneFix+at+Work · · Score: 1

      Try Here, this is a wrapper that uses the windoze drivers...I've used it on a Broadcom A/G card and it works like a charm.

      If you are waiting for REAL, native support, try This project.

    10. Re:Considering trying out Linux by pacman+on+prozac · · Score: 1

      The bcm5700 driver comes from broadcoms site and isn't included in the default kernel. It's GPL'd though so hopefully will be soon. Works fine here although it's only used on a switched home LAN so probably isn't pushed too hard.

  51. Gentoo of course has it by ScottGant · · Score: 4, Informative

    Been playing with 2.6 since test9 and been upgrading the kernel since.

    They keep on top of things with Gentoo.

    --

    "Music is everybody's possession. It's only publishers who think that people own it." - John Lennon.
  52. Quite possibly.. by Inoshiro · · Score: 1

    The Win2k kernel won't compile on GCC.

    A kernel is very different from an application. It requires some very tricky compiler support in order to function as designed. If you don't want to sit down and write it entirely in assember, you end up picking 1 compiler and using many compiler-specific features to get your results.

    --
    --
    Internet Explorer (n): Another bug -- that is, a feature that can't be turned off -- in Windows.
    1. Re:Quite possibly.. by velco · · Score: 1
      A kernel is very different from an application. It requires some very tricky compiler support in order to function as designed. If you don't want to sit down and write it entirely in assember, you end up picking 1 compiler and using many compiler-specific features to get your results.


      We have here a kernel, which is compiled with
      1) GCC (ARM, Thumb, MIPS, SH, V850)
      2) ARM ADS (ARM, Thumb)
      3) ARM SDT (ARM, Thumb)
      4) Hitachi HEW (SH)
      5) NEC CA850 (v850)
      6) Texas Instruments C compiler (TMS470 (ARM core))

      ~velco
    2. Re:Quite possibly.. by hurtta · · Score: 1

      And with some Intel's compiler?

    3. Re:Quite possibly.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dude, I think your humor filter is turned up WAAAAAY too high...

    4. Re:Quite possibly.. by jovlinger · · Score: 1

      Hrm.

      I thought that the layout dependent bits were fairly localized: task switching, speaking to hardware... that sort of thing.

      In what other situations would you care about the generated code? What am I missing?

  53. Re:Help: re-introducing myself to the intracacies. by reignbow · · Score: 2, Informative

    It wont break your system, but a few subsystems change:

    * Module loading: There are new tools for this (usually called module init tools). These are MANDATORY.
    * Logical Volume Management: lvm2 is available but possibly not required (not sure on this)
    * Alsa: Can now be compiled in the kernel. Might need minuscule tweaking
    * A few modules have been renamed. (e.g. printer.o -> usblp.ko)

    --
    Divide et impera!
  54. next! by Billly+Gates · · Score: 0, Offtopic
    Had AGPART since FreeBSD 4.0.

  55. If you use debian/unstable... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The 686 flavor at least makes the ramdisk too big and will kernel panic before loading the initrd image... append ramdisk_size=8192 in lilo or add the bootparam to the grub boot arguments.

    1. Re:If you use debian/unstable... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Better yet, check the frigging config file and set it too a sane value before building your kernel - the shipped default is all to whack. And you really want 4096 on an x86 box.

  56. are PS2 mice still an issue? by horvathcom · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I have been using test9, and have been having a hell of a time with my PS2 mouse. On my system, with 2.6 kernels, whenever there is any load, the mouse becomes very erratic bouncing about the screen and clicking on things at random. I've tried as many of the "fixes" as I can find, but none have done the trick. I assume it is limited to sometihng unique about my system (KT600 mobo), otherwise people would raising a big stink. Have I missed the fix somewhere>

    1. Re:are PS2 mice still an issue? by ca1v1n · · Score: 1

      Try a BIOS update. I won't guarantee it'll work, but it's a quick fix if it does, and it's generally not a bad idea to do it anyway.

    2. Re:are PS2 mice still an issue? by zeeboy · · Score: 1

      I had a wacky issue with a KT400 mobo. I would get erratic behaviour with keyboard(ps2) + mouse(usb). I finally compiled USB into the kernel instead of a module and that fixed it( I still have a bugzilla entry ). It doesn't sound like that's your problem but you never know.

    3. Re:are PS2 mice still an issue? by Dimensio · · Score: 1

      This sounds like a motherboard specific problem, as I still use a PS/2 mouse (Well, USB with the PS/2 adapter, since I don't see a need to fill up a USB slot when I have a port available), and I don't have this problem.

    4. Re:are PS2 mice still an issue? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sounds at first glance like the usual delays with event delivery that comes up with polling-based drivers under load. Sure it's not an XFree86 thing? How unusual is this... does it only occur under heavy load, or even under light load? Of course, 2.6 was supposed to fix all these interactive scheduling issues, so maybe it's something hardware-related, like some of the other folks have suggested. I know my PS/2 mouse largely works fine (unless the video card is eating all the CPU cycles or something).

  57. Wokstation? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yeah, I know bud.

    It's a hard nights work at the WOK STATION when you work in a Chinese restaurant !!!

  58. Now running! by reignbow · · Score: 3, Informative

    I just downloaded the tarball, modified my 2.6.0 configuration a little bit (what the heck do I need UFS support for?), compiled and rebooted. Without any tweaking, ALSA, LVM2, ide-scsi (in your face, Torvalds!), the Promise IDE-Controller and all the usual tidbits work. Nice one.

    BTW, does anybody know how to make K3B understand the new ATAPI cdburning stuff?

    --
    Divide et impera!
    1. Re:Now running! by zeeboy · · Score: 1

      There is an updated k3b, although you will probably have to compile from source. Works great for me!

    2. Re:Now running! by blonde+rser · · Score: 1

      as far as I'm aware you'll have to wait for a new version of cdrdao first... which sucks... but until then make mine ide-scsi

    3. Re:Now running! by tuxdude · · Score: 1

      If you are desperate for a cdrdao that works with ATAPI, search the mailing list archive at cdrdao.sf.net for last week of December. Somebody has listed the steps to get cdrdao working with ATAPI.

    4. Re:Now running! by Pope+Raymond+Lama · · Score: 1

      I had issues trying to continue with IDE-SCSI in 2.6.0 - when I installed an RPM with an updated DEVFS my pseudo SCSI cdrom was remaped to a unit I never found again, neither when rebooting in 2.4.x. :-(

      So I quit fighting devfs configs, and went all for ATAPI access and burning.

      First, remove "hcd=ide-scsi" from the kernel parameters. Reboot. Check if everything is fine with:
      $ cdrecord -scanbus dev=/dev/hdc
      (or hd* as appropriate).
      If it is fine, them K3b should work smoothly.

      I am still have an issue with automount tough. Does anyone had to change anything in fstab (besides the device name, of course), for automount to work ok?

      --
      -><- no .sig is good sig.
    5. Re:Now running! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you're talking about the Unix File System, you'd need that if you wanted to mount any BSD volumes, for example. (But BSD is dying! you might exclaim...)

  59. Misspelling in your post by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm a loyal and happy Linux user

    Hippy is spelled with an i not an a.

    1. Re:Misspelling in your post by Lobo93 · · Score: 1

      Hippy is spelled with an i not an a.

      ...said the man dressed in a brown shirt with black shoulder straps and a red armband; waaaaay back there in the crowd of silly knights of the Holy Ego....

      --
      "The only clear view is from atop the mountain of our dead selves." - Peter Carroll
  60. Re:STILL waiting for... FUD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hey, *TROLL* what about checking your facts?

    I have been using SATA disks on Linux for over a year.

    Support for some *buggy* chipsets has been less than perfect, but it sure as hell works with all common chipsets. And workarounds for most of those bugs have been in 2.4 and 2.6 for quite some time.

    Now we can go back to our standard slash-FUD program...

    \\k

    P.S.: Maybe the RedHat installer doesn't support SATA(haven't tried), but that has nothing to do with kernel support, that has been there for a *long* time.

  61. AGPGART ? ? by Ploum · · Score: 1

    Wel.. I have a question.

    On a nforce chipset vit nvidia geforce 4 MX card, must I use agpgart + nvidia-agp modules or the agp support provided by the nvidia proprietary driver ?

    (This 2.6.1 doesn't bring me the framebuffer on my geforce4 mx.. I don't understand :( And I can't compile the kernel with bootsplash..)

  62. Nvidia drivers by Phaid · · Score: 2, Informative

    Yep. Go to this site and download the diff for your version of the driver.

    You'll need to run the NVIDIA installer with the --extract-only argument to untar it, then cd usr/src/nv and patch -p1 the diff file and then cp Makefile.nvidia Makefile. Then just run make install in the top-level directory of the nvidia installer and it'll build and install a 2.6.1-compatible module.

    1. Re:Nvidia drivers by Eudial · · Score: 1

      Does this mean that nwn no longer lags beyond what's human on 2.6.1 (like it did on 2.6.0)?

      --
      GAAH! MY PRINTER IS ON FIRE!!! PUT IT OUT! PUT IT OUT!
    2. Re:Nvidia drivers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      I killed NVIDIA Lag this way,

      export __GL_FSAA_MODE=0 __GL_DEFAULT_LOG_ANISO=1
      nwn

      Works at least with SoU and HOU. These are NVidia driver options, and since then I have hasd no trouble.

      Also, you can get the pre-packaged installer for 2.6:
      http://www.sh.nu/download/nvidia/linux-2.6/

    3. Re:Nvidia drivers by Eudial · · Score: 2, Informative

      Sine the 'nwn' file is just a script, it is possible to add those commands in the file =)

      --
      GAAH! MY PRINTER IS ON FIRE!!! PUT IT OUT! PUT IT OUT!
    4. Re:Nvidia drivers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      not something I've noticed. is X running with a low nice value or something?

    5. Re:Nvidia drivers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And pray that you don't have an Nvidia 5x00 card with a VIA KTx00 chipset motherboard, where x is greater than 2. (at least, from my experience)

    6. Re:Nvidia drivers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I couldn't help but comment on your sig :P

      !Decrypting rot13 violates the DMCA! Prepare to be sued!!

      I create all my posts with rot26 encryption. By reading this post, you're violating the DMCA :o

    7. Re:Nvidia drivers by ColaMan · · Score: 2, Funny

      You'll need to run the NVIDIA installer with the --extract-only argument to untar it, then cd usr/src/nv and patch -p1 the diff file and then cp Makefile.nvidia Makefile. Then just run make install in the top-level directory of the nvidia installer and it'll build and install a 2.6.1-compatible module.

      Don't forget to wave the sacrificial rubber chicken in an anti-clockwise direction over your processor while it compiles. If you wave the chicken clockwise you'll get a *lot* of segfaults and kernel panics.

      Oh, and the compiled code will run 20% faster if you build it on a full moon or winter solstice, so plan ahead!

      --

      You are in a twisty maze of processor lines, all alike.
      There is a lot of hype here.
  63. Re:Ugly version system by j7953 · · Score: 1
    It's easy for people new to Linux to downoad the wrong version.

    "People new to Linux" probably won't download a kernel anyway.

    --
    Sig (appended to the end of comments I post, 54 chars)
  64. Stupid question about /sys by Theatetus · · Score: 1

    What's /sys for, anyways? Is it just that /proc was getting crowded?

    --
    All's true that is mistrusted
    1. Re:Stupid question about /sys by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Someone decided that the proc in /proc should stand for process so everything that dealt with processes in /proc should be removed. Of course, we couldn't live with getting rid of them completely, so moving them to /sys was suggested. These sort of meaningless and gratuitous changes drive me nuts. Having, for example, /proc/version didn't do any harm, but some purist decided it should be removed.

      More rant... For example, on my system you this nonobvious file to use to look at the model of harddrive I'm using: /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:09.0/host0/0:0:4:0 /model

      Does this look like a good thing?

      OBhelpful comment:

      mount -t sysfs sys /sys

      to mount /sys just in case you're using an older distribution that doesn't have it in /etc/fstab.

  65. But I already committed Harry Carry by Medievalist · · Score: 1

    Look in CVS HEAD. It'll be in the nightly compile, too.

    Next time read the damn patch log!

  66. off by one by tjw · · Score: 1


    That was supposed to read "2.4.21 to 2.4.22".

    --

    XJS*C4JDBQADN1.NSBN3*2IDNEN*GTUBE-STANDARD-ANTI-UB E-TEST-EMAIL*C.34X
  67. Re:Ugly version system by Pentagram · · Score: 1

    Ah good point. Supports my case, though - I've compiled a few kernels and still forget how it works. In that case, how about 2.6-stable-1 ?

  68. Install module-init-tools! Or you will get errors! by khasim · · Score: 5, Informative

    I know many people will not read the documentation so I'm posting it here.

    You need module-init-tools with the 2.6.x series.

  69. I've always loved by llamalicious · · Score: 5, Funny
    Linus' comments in changelogs... ...snip...

    <torvalds@home.osdl.org>
    Fix silly mremap test.
    Get off the drugs, Linus.

  70. Re:Ugly version system by Pentagram · · Score: 1

    I fail to see how 2.6.1-rc3 (rc == release candidate) is confusing. rc numbering is pretty standard, even Bill's boys do it (Windows 2003 rc-1 for example).

    What I don't like is the information implicit in the odd/even number version number when it could be text. It's just another piece of trivia to remember. It could be 2.6-unstable-1-rc3 (or actually 2.3-unstable-1-rc3 as you'd go through numbers half as fast).

    There's also the question of why exactly people new to Linux are compiling their own kernel rather than using that provided by their distro of course.

    Why shouldn't they?

    Anyway, the information is not just useful for installing kernels. What about just checking a system to see what kernel is currently installed? Currently you have to know about odd-even versions to know if you have a development kernel or not using uname -r , whereas if it was textual it would be obvious.

  71. Re:Ugly version system by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    OK, then...how about:
    "Linux2.6-use-this-version-it-is-stable-an d-comple tely-up-to-date.tgz"

  72. Noob Question - .config file from RPM? by steppin_razor_LA · · Score: 1

    I'd like to start playing w/ compiling custom kernels. Can you get the .config files that are used to make the RH RPM kernels or do they just use default options?

    --
    Evolution: love it or leave it
    1. Re:Noob Question - .config file from RPM? by evbell · · Score: 1

      Try looking in /usr/src/linux-2.x/configs ...

  73. Re:Install module-init-tools! Or you will get erro by DaveAtFraud · · Score: 1

    Or they can build a monolithic kernel.

    We don't need no stinking modules! ;-)

    --
    They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty.
    Ben
  74. or get prepatched ones here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    www.sh.nu Which is linked from the site you mentioned.

  75. Re:Ugly version system by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative
    It's easy for people new to Linux to downoad the wrong version.

    Maybe for idiots (and trolls). Directly from kernel.org, no emphasis necessary:

    The latest stable version of the Linux kernel is: 2.6.1

    Hasn't this been beaten to death, like decades ago? Seriously.
  76. alias cdrecord="cdrecord -dev=ATAPI" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I 'fixed' eroaster just by adding a bash alias for
    alias cdrecord="cdrecord -dev=ATAPI"

  77. Re:Ugly version system by ratpack91 · · Score: 1
    err... from www.kernel.org:
    The latest stable version of the Linux kernel is: 2.6.1 2004-01-09 07:31 UTC
  78. WARNING: BLATANT KARMA WHORING by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And SCO claims ownership of all 998 files.

    [posting AC to avoid karma whore charges]

    1. Re:WARNING: BLATANT KARMA WHORING by UserGoogol · · Score: 1

      You don't get Karma for -1 Offtopic, I'm afraid.

      --
      "Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity." -- Hanlon's Razor
  79. Re:Ugly version system by gid · · Score: 1

    the 6 is an even number, hence it implies stable.

    the 2.5 series was/is unstable until it matured into the current 2.6.x stable series, the next unstable kernel will be 2.7.x, etc etc.

    adding an unstable anywhere in the name would be redundant

  80. so... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...when do you actually do stuff on your machine?
    apart from upgrading and watching tentacle-porn I mean.

    1. Re:so... by ScottGant · · Score: 2, Interesting

      ...when do you actually do stuff on your machine?
      apart from upgrading and watching tentacle-porn I mean.


      Don't know what "tentecle-porn" is...but sounds interesting.

      I work all the time on my machine. To upgrade a kernel takes all of 5 minutes...including boot time. And I've only upgraded from test9 like 3 times in the last 2 months...so 15 minutes to upgrade per 2 months. Wow, yes, I can see where you would think I would not have any time left to do anything.

      Of course, you also could just be an anonymous coward troll...nah.

      --

      "Music is everybody's possession. It's only publishers who think that people own it." - John Lennon.
  81. Re:Install module-init-tools! Or you will get erro by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Um yes... let me second this. Just tried installing 2.6.1 (upgrading from 2.4.22) and ran into this problem. lsmod / insmod / modprobe etc were all giving some weird error. Had to apt-get install module-init-tools... suddenly it all worked.

  82. Re:Ugly version system by Pentagram · · Score: 1

    It would be redundant only if you kept the odd/even versioning system. I am suggesting (starting from kernel 3 for simplicity):

    3.0-unstable-0, 3.0-unstable-1 etc.
    3.0-stable-0, 3.0-unstable-1 etc.
    3.1-unstable-0 etc.
    etc.

    Using alternate numbers to indicate unstable kernels is a poor way of representing development versions IMO.

  83. 2.6.0 is now in Debian unstable... by sewagemaster · · Score: 1

    >>>>2.6.0 is now in Debian unstable...

    i just installed this on my debian box - and the kernel didnt boot on my computer. probably better idea to wait a while since this happens with .0 kernel releases all the time...

  84. little long by rudabager · · Score: 1

    I find it very interesting that that we use three decimal points now for version numbers. I mean fractions of fractions come on. Yes I know im a troll because theres a reason for all this. But seriously what are we gonna have 10 years from now. Linus JR. just released the 5.8.9.3.4.7.0.0.2 version of Linux.

    --
    If I wanted easy I wouldnt be an engineer or a patriot.
  85. Re:WILDCAT IS ON TEH SPOKE by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Being on teh spoke. What's it like, is it good, or is it whack?

    I would like to make clear I am drink right now.

  86. Less complex than that now. by autechre · · Score: 2, Informative

    Under 2.6.x, you simply type:
    make (menu|g)config
    make
    make install
    make modules_install

    "make install" tries to figure out whether you're using LILO or GRUB and tell you what to do next, though it didn't quite work in my case since I never bothered setting up a boot menu (I just use the GRUB boot prompt). Another thing you should watch is that, by default, you can't remove modules from a running kernel. Be sure to check out the options for this.

    Anyone else notice that you don't see the actual gcc commands anymore? Compiling Linux now looks eerily similar to compiling DJB's software.

    Hopefully my HPT370 chipset will work under 2.6.1; it locks up 2.6.0 at boot unless I disable it in the BIOS (or don't compile in support for it). But it does "feel faster" than 2.4.x on the desktop, and ALSA and my nVidia card worked like a charm (thanks minion.de).

    --
    WMBC freeform/independent online radio.
    1. Re:Less complex than that now. by FuzzyBad-Mofo · · Score: 1

      Hmm, thanks for the info. Unfortunately, I'm stuck with 2.4 until NVIDIA releases updated drivers. (I know about the hacky way to run the old driver under 2.6, but I'd rather not) Was trying to approximate what a 2.6 install would be like, guess I was off a little. :)

  87. Sony camera question by simetra · · Score: 1

    In 2.4.x, I was able to mount my Sony DSC-S85 camera via USB under /dev/sda1, using USB mass storage and scsi.

    This seems entirely broken in 2.6.0. Can someone clue me in on how to go about doing this now?

    Thanks.

    --

    "Would it kill you to put down the toilet seat?" -- Maya Angelou
    1. Re:Sony camera question by RdsArts · · Score: 1

      Still works for me with my cameras in 2.6.0. Make sure you have SCSI support compiled in the kernel, and the right USB chipset support.

    2. Re:Sony camera question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Had to patch it under 2.6.1 (look in Gentoo forums), but better upgrade too 2.6.1, cause it is working now. Yeah!!!

  88. goddamnit. by MoOsEb0y · · Score: 1

    I JUST finished upgrading to 2.6.0 yesterday. I'm not kidding.

    1. Re:goddamnit. by Azar · · Score: 1

      Nobody cares. I'm not kidding. ;)

  89. SATA -should- list under SCSI! by MarcQuadra · · Score: 3, Informative

    AFAIK, the SATA command set uses SCSI commands, not ATA, SATA is much more SCSI-over-serial than ATA-over-serial. The drives are ATA-like in quality, performance, and features, but the commands they respond to are SCSI-based in nature.

    FireWire, USB, and ATAPI also implement SCSI commands, ATAPI implements SCSI commands -OVER- ATA wires.

    What I'd like to see is an abstraction of the SCSI-over-[anything] idea, so new drivers are basically just cutting up an input stream for their respective mediums. ATA as a whole could be implemented as part of this, the drivers would just say that your ATA drive is a SCSI drive, on an ATA bus, with a command set capable of features X,Y, and Z. It would make it a lot easier to implement TCQ and other stuff on ATA drives, and pre-ordered queing on dirty write buffers for slower serial devices.

    All storage should be based on the most capable and broad command set, with lower-level drivers disabling features (fom said command set) to their needs.

    --
    "Sometimes, I think Trent just needs a cup of hot chocolate and a blankie." -Tori Amos on Nine Inch Nails
  90. Kernel Code by MarcQuadra · · Score: 1

    I don't code, but I DO read code and spend a lot of time compiling stuff. The Linux Kernel is some of the cleanest and best-written looking code I've ever seen. Everything is concise and simple, the names of most things make sense, and the build process, even in 2.4, is pretty clean looking.

    --
    "Sometimes, I think Trent just needs a cup of hot chocolate and a blankie." -Tori Amos on Nine Inch Nails
    1. Re:Kernel Code by mandolin · · Score: 1
      If anybody needs a concise example of good coding style, I'd suggest the new epoll code (eventpoll.c) in 2.6 ... everything explained, especially the "gotcha"s. Very nice work, Mr. Libenzi.

      For an example of really *shitty* code, I'd look at some of the drivers. Example: drivers/net/pcnet32.c. All the chip bits and registers are hard-coded w/no documentation. You can't read the code w/out flipping through the technical specs at the same time. Extremely stupid.

    2. Re:Kernel Code by MarcQuadra · · Score: 1

      But the 'cleanliness' of the drivers seems to be a function of how many people use them in the real world, and how 'good' the cards are. I've seen the 3C59x, AIC-7xxx, and Intel eepro drivers and they're looking pretty good. I don't think I've EVER even seen a PCNET card, nor do I think too many people would be upset if the code broke and nobody fixed it.

      --
      "Sometimes, I think Trent just needs a cup of hot chocolate and a blankie." -Tori Amos on Nine Inch Nails
  91. Re:Ugly version system by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You seem to be confused about the meaning of "stable". "Stable" means that the set of features is more or less fixed. It does not mean "bug-free" or even "well-tested". Likewise, "unstable" simply means that the features available are subject to change. "Unstable" says nothing about the presence of bugs. You can have a "stable" release that is completely untested, or an "unstable" release that's been tested for months before release.

    Releases of stable kernels have nothing to do with releases of unstable kernels. If it helps you understand this better, consider the stable kernel a completely separate project, run by different people, than the unstable kernel.

  92. Think of the mice!! by Shazow · · Score: 1

    Sure, Linux has all sorts of handy command-line autoget stuff. Butt! BUTT!! Windows has clicking!

    And what do users want? We want clicking! More clicking! Give us a button to click after we type in 'emerge programname' and windows will totally be in trouble. Ph33r thy buttons!

    - shazow

  93. The took one right out of the Solaris playbook. by Ayanami+Rei · · Score: 1

    I mean, my cdrom drive is mounted from /devices/pci@1e,600000/ide@d/sd@0,0:c,raw.

    Sigh.

    --
    THIS THING CAN TURN ON A DIME, MACROSSZERO STYLE ALSO FUCK BETA, ~NYORON
    1. Re:The took one right out of the Solaris playbook. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's what symlinks were invented for... besides, this is the sort of thing you stuff once into your /etc/fstab, and forget about.

  94. What does the bttv/v4l patch do? by niom · · Score: 1

    What does the bttv/v4l patch do?

    --
    -- Repeat with me: "There is no right to profits".
  95. Don't use them. by Ayanami+Rei · · Score: 1

    1) They include all hardware under the sun.
    2) They assume you've applied about 50 patches to the stock kernel (some of them RedHat specific), so a lot of the stuff is going to be ignored, or could cause the make to fail.

    --
    THIS THING CAN TURN ON A DIME, MACROSSZERO STYLE ALSO FUCK BETA, ~NYORON
    1. Re:Don't use them. by steppin_razor_LA · · Score: 1

      Thanks for the advice!... I had to mess w/ everything in roder to get the CIFS mount module created. Who knew an upgrade to W2003 would cause so many samba headaches! :)

      --
      Evolution: love it or leave it
  96. In other words... by Kjella · · Score: 1

    I've used to think of the kernel as some beast, full of black magic. Some of the parts dealing with broken hardware, are a little arcane. But the more I look at it, the more I see that most of it is just C.

    In other words, it's black magic in C ;). To the most of us it might as well have been written in the tounge of Mordor. Though I hope the kernel is full of white magic instead, because the "one kernel to rule them all" doesn't really give me good associations. Once you wield the magic, it's not "magic" in that sense anymore, now is it?

    Kjella

    --
    Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
  97. You're kidding by Overly+Critical+Guy · · Score: 1

    That's not exactly fair. Although installing a kernel independently of a distro isn't easy, program installation in general is far, far easier than it is in MS Windows. In debian, you just type "apt-get programname". In Mandrake, you type "urpmi programname".

    You mean to tell me that you honestly believe that for the majority of users, it is easier to live in a command prompt and type things like "urpmi programname" instead of getting a nice, professional Autostart program that lets you browse CD contents, run the program, install (with the ability to CHOOSE program locations and options!), stick itself on the Start menu for access, and uninstall itself correctly?

    --
    "Sufferin' succotash."
    1. Re:You're kidding by Zirtix · · Score: 1

      You can get apt and urpmi frontends. So duh.

    2. Re:You're kidding by stor · · Score: 1
      You mean to tell me that you honestly believe that for the majority of users, it is easier to live in a command prompt and type things like "urpmi programname" instead of getting a nice, professional Autostart program that lets you browse CD contents, run the program, install (with the ability to CHOOSE program locations and options!), stick itself on the Start menu for access, and uninstall itself correctly?


      Indeed a great number of people using computers today have no concept of dropping to a CLI to perform standard operations and frankly I don't see why they should.

      However if you want a nice gui front-end for automatically updating Linux software there are some nice ones available such as Ximian Red Carpet. Red Hat's up2date worked pretty painlessly for me when I was testing it too.

      Cheers
      Stor
      --
      "Yeah well there's a lot of stuff that should be, but isn't"
    3. Re:You're kidding by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Therewas evidence to prove that Overly Critical Guy is a lying cocksucker, but he deleted it. Think independently.

  98. README needs updating? by Trogre · · Score: 1

    From the README:
    Make sure you have gcc 2.95.3 available.
    gcc 2.91.66 (egcs-1.1.2), and gcc 2.7.2.3 are known to miscompile some parts of the kernel, and are *no longer supported*.


    Will gcc 3.2.2 suffice, or do I really have to go hunting for an ancient version of this compiler?

    --
    "Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
  99. Re:Help: re-introducing myself to the intracacies. by benjamindees · · Score: 1

    It depends on which distro you choose. Heavily modified kernels like RedHat's are a pain and probably will break at least a couple of your apps if you try to replace them with the latest stock from kernel.org.

    I've been using Debian and upgrading all the way through 2.4 without any problems. I'd imagine Slackware or Gentoo to be the same. Can't say about Mandrake or SuSe.

    I would advise that you skip RH9, though, and go straight to Fedora. It doesn't (yet) have a lot of changes vs. RH9; and, what changes there are, are mostly good ones (prelink, acpi, gnome 2.4). Welcome back!

    --
    "I assumed blithely that there were no elves out there in the darkness"
  100. Windows Software That Doesn't Require Admin Priv. by MuParadigm · · Score: 3, Funny


    Have you tried Solitaire?

  101. nah by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    the mod facists are on they're usual
    psycho rampage

    1. Re:nah by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      learn to spell

  102. Is a good idea to enable preemtion? by Draco_es · · Score: 1

    I've checked for first time the 2.6.x series, and the first impression was a complete disappointment. Intensive I/O completely freezes the machine, and performance is awful. For example, a simple "dd if=/dev/zero of=verybig bs=1M count=300" took a minute and a half in 2.6.1 versus the 11 seconds in a 2.4.22...

    I suppose that's not a normal behaviour, and it's caused by the CONFIG_PREEMPT option(I'm compiling again without it), but can anybody who follows the kernel development explain why is this option recommended for the desktop user if its results are so poor? (or why am I wrong and that's not the cause of the problems....)

  103. Re:Windows Software That Doesn't Require Admin Pri by Slashamatic · · Score: 1

    The Games aren't loaded :-)!!!!

  104. Obligatory by Prowl · · Score: 1

    Anyone got any screenshots for this thing?

    --
    That man tried to kill mah Daddy
    1. Re:Obligatory by lithiumcloud · · Score: 1

      yup, follows...

      Linux 2.6.1

      localhost login:

      --
      This space intentionally left blank.
  105. Urp me! by achurch · · Score: 0, Redundant

    In Mandrake, you type "urpmi programname".

    And now we see why Linux has so little marketshare. Who would want the slightest thing to do with a system that has commands like urpmi?

  106. No, seriously by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Who said anything about living "in a command prompt?" Yes, believe it or not sometimes it's easier to open a terminal window (horrors!) and type a single command to fetch, compile and install a software package than it is to futz around with a GUI "installer." And you're insane if you think that every piece of software written for Windows has a "nice, professional Autostart program..." or that it can correctly uninstall itself!

    You really are a tool. You're so used to an inferior way of dealing with software that you can see no alternative.

  107. An OT question about kernel devices by Crazy+Eight · · Score: 1

    Why aren't network devices given nodes under /dev? Nodes are alocated for PPP and ISDN devices but there is no /dev/ethX. What gives here?

  108. When did IBM start emitting paper tigers? by leonbrooks · · Score: 1
    I have the certificates to prove this, and furthermore they're issued by the biggest software company in existence. [...] Mike Bouma, MCSE, MCDST, MS Office Specialist

    The single biggest software maker in existence is IBM, not Microsoft. Don't bother quoting NASDAQ at me, it doesn't tell the whole story.

    IBM don't issue Minesweeper Consultant and Solitaire Expert (MCSE) certs (except possibly when their janitors replace the empty rolls).

    --
    Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
  109. But where to? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'll be seeing him tomorrow morning. At an airport in Australia. Any guesses which one?

    I can pass along any explict repentances, if you post them below this. (-:

  110. AFAICT, Mandrake does by leonbrooks · · Score: 1

    I don't actually use LVM anywhere, so I haven't tested it, but on paper Mandrake 9.2 supports that.

    --
    Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
  111. 2.6.0-1mdk running fine on AOpen OpenBook 1547 by leonbrooks · · Score: 1

    Still no drivers for the WinBond memory stick reader, and I have yet to port the driver for my Minitar PCMCIA WLAN card, but otherwise neat and sweet. Burns DVDs over USB2 as fast as the Pioneer drive will spin them. Firewire fires. Video is reliable including in 3D but not up to gamer speeds. Worked as well on a rebuilt kernel as on a mint binary.

    My wife's nForce2 (Athlon 2400) also goes well on the same kernel, but because the NVidia drivers are execrable in terms of reliability I jammed a Radeon into it, and it's now up to about three times as reliable as a Windows box. )-: About to try some major hardware swapping to find out where the remaining hardware bugs are. One of them was a Minitar PCI WLAN card, which is now working flawlessly in an K6-2/450 box.

    --
    Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
  112. Bochs by DreadSpoon · · Score: 1

    Just use bochs or another VM.

    1. Re:Bochs by Slashamatic · · Score: 1

      Bochs is slow. Very slow. The Bochs/Plex86 combo doesn't seem to be out there yet. As for other VMs, my goal was to be able to host UML on a straight 2K/XP Pro system without having any special stuff between the Win kernel and the metal. VMware does some special stuff to support a VM under its host.