Linux Kernel 2.6.3 Has Been Released [updated]

justinarthur writes "At 04:36 UTC, Linux kernel version 2.6.3 has been made available. As is typical, downloaders are advised to utilize a mirror upon file availability. There are many changes from version 2.6.2, including recent ALSA patches, XFS fixes, and updates in many other areas." Update: 02/18 14:15 GMT by T : Peter Willis points out that kernel 2.4.25 (changelog) was also released, and writes "Incidentally, a security advisory dated today states there is an exploit in kernels up to 2.4.24 and 2.6.2, but the two releases today don't seem to reflect any changes, so get ready to patch up as soon as a patch pops up. More details on the vulnerability here."

Comments

SCO's code is available for perusal

[ObviousGuy]

Wait until 2.6.4 when that code has been removed.

Great work!

[Michael Iatrou]

$ cat ChangeLog-2.6.2 | grep -xP "<.*@.*>" | wc -l
1105

$ cat ChangeLog-2.6.3 | grep -xP "<.*@.*>" | wc -l
1260

155 more bug fixes from the last release... (yeah, I know, not a really sophisticated method...)

Gentoo disappointment...

[dmayle]

I must admit to being a little disappointed right now with my Gentoo installation. I saw the article here, ran an emerge sync, and 2.6.3 is still marked as unstable. I guess I'll have to wait 15 minutes before I can install it... ;)

On a slightly related sidenote, whichever developer it was who "broke" support for the 105th key (the "Europe" key) in 2.6.1 should be drawn and quartered. It took me forever to figure out why my tilde key wasn't working. I created a text file called tilde with the character in it so that everytime I needed a tilde, I could copy and paste it... Aaarrggh

Re:Gentoo disappointment...

[vojtech]

That was me, thanks for the torture offer. ;)

Btw, the problem was that 2.6.1 actually supported the 103rd European key, and users couldn't cope with that. Now (2.6.2+) it's treated like a regular backslash key, even though they're two different keys in reality.

Summary Redefined by Changelog

[Red Pointy Tail]

Summary of changes from v2.6.2 to v2.6.3

At a tidy 9472 lines, I think the word 'summary' needs a new definition...

Is any distro already with 2.6 kernel series?

[ron_lima]

Is there already any distro with the kernel 2.6 series? I'm still waiting for the response of the market before going for kernel 2.6 yet. My 2.4.24 is really stable and running fine, but I'm anxious to see the threads improvements in 2.6...

TODO:

[gazbo]

Locate and insert link to the "unnecessary use of cat" awards page.

And I don't mean having feline carnal knowledge.

Re:TODO:

[Anonymous Coward]

One prog to read the lines, one prog to find them,
One prog to count the lines and to the console bind them.

Radeon users will be happy

[CRCulver]

Previous kernels have never worked entirely well with my Mobile Radeon M6-P graphics card. Switching from radeon-powered X to radeonfb-powered console, or changing the resolution within radeonfb, would occasionally cause the screen to get all fuzzy, making me switch back and forth until it looked normal again.

But with the 2.6.3 kernel, there's a kickass new radeonfb driver that doesn't have any of these problems, and has improved collaboration with the BIOS to decide certain settings. No longer will peers think Linux must suck because my screen occasionally gets fuzzy.

However, I'm still only getting 435fps in glxgears with a 16MB graphics card at 1024x768 with DRI definitely on. Is this normal for a sucky notebook display card, or is there a problem with Linux's radeon gl support or my settings?