Kernel Changes Draw Concern

Saeed al-Sahaf writes "Is the Linux kernel becoming fat and unstable? Computer Associates seems to think so. Sam Greenblatt, a senior vice president at Computer Associates, said the kernel is 'getting fatter. We are not interested in the game drivers and music drivers that are being added to the kernel. We are interested in a more stable kernel.' There continues to be a huge debate over what technology to fold into the Linux kernel, and Andrew Morton, the current maintainer of the Linux 2.6 kernel, expands on these subjects in this article at eWeek."

Comments

No problem

[Anonymous Coward]

A real step towards the desktop is for the average user to be able to build a sleek customized kernel, right?

I think they have this nifty thing called CONFIG

[Vlad_Drak]

That lets you not have ISDN, USB Dildo, and/or Ham radio support.

Not what we want.

[ShaniaTwain]

"We are not interested in the game drivers and music drivers that are being added to the kernel."

..we want text, orange, perhaps green on a black background. We want large buzzing metal boxes that only we are allowed access to. We want to store our data on large spinning reels of magnetic tape, or better yet punch cards.

also we want a sandwich.

That is all.

Re:Not what we want.

[sharkey]

I don't even see the punch cards anymore. I just see blonde, brunette, redhead...

BS

[DrLZRDMN]

I have never heard of there being a problem with too many music drivers in the Linux kernel....Or any music drivers in the Linux kernel....In fact, I have never heard of music drivers at all

Re:Hypocritical

[NanoGator]

"I think it's laughable that Computer Associates talking about other people's bloated software."

Hey, if they're experts on it....

Re:Inevitable event

[value_added]

I hope I don't get a troll rating on this, but I think that as any kernel grows, it becomes exponentially more difficult to project all of the possible interactions between components.

Actually, that's not the case at all according to this new NY Times Article

...the Purdue researchers say the real explosive secret lies in the hull, or pericarp ... In some varieties, the pericarp becomes more moistureproof as it is heated, sealing in the steam until the pressure gets so high that the hull fractures and the kernel goes pop.

In other varieties that don't undergo heat-induced change, the moisture escapes, the hull never breaks and then the kernel goes pfffft.

Re:Just my $0.02

[Master of Transhuman]

Thanks for this exposition of conventional wisdom.

When you have something specific to pin this on, I'm sure we'd all like to hear from you again.

Re:I think they have this nifty thing called CONFI

[MighMoS]

Yeah. If you really wanna have some fun, do a "cat /dev/urandom > /dev/dildo" for hours of fun!

Re:Just my $0.02

[jc42]

Big changes are coming to the kernel that are really going to improve Linux and its functionality in the buisness and home world.

Yeah, and we know that Linux Will Never Be Ready For The Desktop until firefox and thunderbird are integrated into the kernel.

Re:Just my $0.02

[metamatic]

Linus is never going to admit that Andy Tanenbaum was right about microkernels...

Re:Just my $0.02

[SnowZero]

And Mach/Hurd/L4 have demonstrated just how microkernels will develop rapidly and eclipse macrokernels with their superior features.