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Kernel 2.6.12 Released
Mad Merlin writes "Linux kernel 2.6.12 has been released! Kerneltrap has a brief summary on it. The changelog is only partial however: 'The full ChangeLog ended up missing, because I only have the history from 2.6.12-rc2 in my git archives, but if you want to, you can puzzle it together by taking the 2.6.12 changelog and merging it with the -rc1 and -rc2 logs in the testing directory. The file that says ChangeLog-2.6.12 only contains the stuff from -rc2 onward.' As always you can find the changelog and the source at kernel.org"
What kind of ridiculous release management is that? Why doesn't the release manager "puzzle it out" once, so the rest of us can look at it, to tell whether it's worth bothering with? Their job is to ensure the release is packaged, not just brag to their friends that they're the glorious release manager.
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make install -not war
"That being said, the statement that distros don't roll their own kernels isn't true, anyway. Take Fedora, for example - if you read Dave Jones' blog, you'll notice that a lot of effort *is* going into stabilizing these and making them regression-free."
Oh they try. Valiantly I'm sure. But they fail. For example, Fedora Core 3 can't see my CD drive unless I put it on a Promise IDE card because of that libata business. I'm sure they'd be able to do better if they weren't starting out with such a disadvantage.
"Outside of that... well, yeah, I guess one could complain about the lack of proper regression testing, QA prior to releases, release schedules and all that. But the truth is that these things have not only hindered but actually *helped* a great deal when it comes to Linux development, so I don't see why they should be abolished. In the end, it's the developers that decide how things should work - and that's good, because it's the developers, not management (this includes everyone who's not involved with development), who know best."
Your pronouns imply you're a kernel developer. Is that the case? You may have a development model that results in features being added faster, but you are not producing kernels that I can risk using for anything important. Judging by the other posts here, I'm not alone. I agree that non-developers shouldn't be in charge of the project, but you should agree that users are free to use something else if what you're making don't meet our needs.
Kernel 2.6 doesn't meet my needs anywhere but my workstation system. It's worth it for the responsiveness, but my workstation is my problem. I can install something else over lunch if I have to. But I will get yelled at if the other machines break, and I don't want 2.6 anywhere near them.
Ultimately I hear a lot of justifications that involve things other than kernels that work robustly from one version from the next, but I don't care about those other things when my system isn't running at all. If you do, that's fine, but I think you should care a little when a Linux update becomes more likely to break stuff than a Windows update.
I rarely criticize things I don't care about.
Oh no! Not a new Kernel? Now I need to recompile it on all my servers! Oh wait, I figure I don't need because I use BSD only. When is Linux (and BSD too) going to start working on simplifying it's upgrade process? What about rules in it's development preventing anyone from making changes that would hinder backward and forward compatibility? When was the last time you had to update your Windows Kernel? Did it break something major? I had too much problems with new Kernels having issues with drivers and configuration. All that development process is disproving itself after each release.
Disclaimer: strong language directed not to you, but to your post.
Try telling that to a corporate entity.... the blank statement would leave managers somewhat concerned.
Who the fuck cares about what a corporate entity likes?
Why should I (or anybody else) care about concerned managers?
Linux is free and Free, is a GIFT to them! They should be grateful.
Or is it that as soon a little money appeared in the horizon all of us turned whores?
Cheers,
Carlos Cesar