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Linux Kernel 2.6.4 Released

justinarthur writes "The Linux kernel version 2.6.4 has been released at 03:16 UTC. Included in the changes from version 2.6.3 are fixes to XFS support, Wide Area Networking, USB connectivity, and IEEE1394 connectivity. To download a copy, it is recommended that one utilizes a Linux Kernel Archives mirror. Linus Torvalds' announcement to the Linux Kernel Mailing list concerning this release is available here." Reader k-zed points out that Linux 1.0 was released in March 1994, ten years ago.

12 of 431 comments (clear)

  1. Slackers. by grub · · Score: 5, Funny


    Hmm.. I don't see it on ftp.sco.com yet. What lousy service for $699.

    --
    Trolling is a art,
  2. Did you know that.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The name of this release amongst the core developers was "Heathen Chemistry.". Alan Cox came up with it - it's was inside joke about british pop/rock phenomenon.

  3. Fixes my ICH5 SATA Problems by xheliox · · Score: 5, Interesting

    2.6.4-rc1 ChangeLog:

    [libata] catch, and ack, spurious DMA interrupts

    Hardware issue on Intel ICH5 requires an additional ack sequence over and above the normal IDE DMA interrupt ack requirements. Issue described in post to freebsd list: http://www.mail-archive.com/freebsd-stable@freebsd .org/msg58421.html

    Since the bug workaround only requires a single additional PIO or MMIO read in the interrupt handler, it is applied to all chipsets using the standard libata interrupt handler.

    Credit for research the issue, creating the patch, and testing the patch all go to Jon Burgess.
    ---------

    Woo, this is very exciting. If you had problems with SATA & ICH5... this probably fixes those problems.

  4. Re:new kernel by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Mandrake 10 is (look for the story from yesterday) Also you can get 2.6 from gentoo and debian, though not default

  5. Re:10 years? by BabyDave · · Score: 5, Funny

    For comparison, in 10 years Microsoft went from Windows 3.0 to Windows 2000! Clear proof that Microsoft's development process is far superior.

  6. did you report it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Copy down the numbers from the kernel panic.
    I know it's a pain, but we really need this.
    If you're terribly lazy, just get EIP, ESP,
    and any names you see.

    Mail that to linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org and
    expect a few questions about your hardware.

    That's not so difficult, is it? This gets the
    bug fixed so that the next release will run on
    your system.

  7. Re:In 94, I was using Windows 3.1 by jcupitt65 · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Linux is just the kernel. You'll find the NT kernel hasn't changed that dramatically recently either.

    Maybe you mean the desktop experience? That's provided by KDE/GNOME/fluxbox whatever, and it's very clear what innovation is going on there if you look at KDE 3.2 vs KDE 1 (for example).

  8. Re:In 94, I was using Windows 3.1 by JimDabell · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Now, I'm using XP, and it's easy to see how 10 years of development have consistently innovated-not in a direction I'd like, and not in a safe or secure manner, but it's innovation.

    Incremental improvements inspired by others is not innovation. What great new features have Microsoft ever introduced to the world? It has to be more than a couple to claim the status of "consistently innovating".

    What has Linux got but 10 years of incremental patches?

    Things like ReiserFS? Major sections of the kernel have been completely rewritten since 1.0. The scheduler, the module loading system, the /dev handling (static /dev to devfs to udev), the network subsystem. Anybody even remotely familiar with the kernel wouldn't make the claim you are making.

    I feel the "if it's open source, it's perfect" ideology

    That's a straw man argument. People don't claim that open source automatically makes something perfect.

    is the reason Windows is still the desktop OS of choice.

    Desktop OS of choice for some people. It's certainly not the desktop OS choice for me.

    Linux fanatics need to be able to step back and look objectively at Linux's many flaws

    Zealots of any kind aren't objective. But people who use and develop Linux at home or work are not automatically zealots as you seem to be implying.

  9. Re:Think of it as version 26 by Frit+Mock · · Score: 5, Interesting


    26th release is the wrong answer! ;)

    First of all, for Linux uneven numbers are development-versions.
    Second the 1.X versions stopped at 1.3
    Third, version 1.0 surely was not the 10th major release ... not even real swedish programmers begin counting at 0, like their programs do ;)

    However, this truly is the forth Service Pack for the Linux 2.6 ... within a few month they fix more, than M$ ever fixed in w2k ;)

  10. Re:Just when... by damballah · · Score: 5, Funny

    Speaking of changelogs, this is the funniest one I've found so far for 2.6.4:

    [PATCH] kthread primitive

    From: Rusty Russell

    These two patches provide the framework for stopping kernel threads to
    allow hotplug CPU. This one just adds kthread.c and kthread.h, next
    one uses it.

    Most importantly, adds a Monty Python quote to the kernel.

  11. Re:new kernel by damballah · · Score: 5, Informative

    For MandrakeLinux 10, it is the default kernel. They also provide the latest from the 2.4 series, but you'll have to install that by hand. By "integration", they probably mean dropping devfsd in favor of udev... " I assumed the 2.6 was some addon I have to waste precious brain cells and time trying to figrure out how to install." Mandrake has had RPMs for the 2.6 series for some time now.

  12. Re:Anyone know what Rusty is talking about here? by Svennig · · Score: 5, Informative
    And the quote is:
    /* "to look upon me as her own dad -- in a very real, and legally binding sense." - Michael Palin */