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The Linux Weather Forecast

Posted by kdawson on from the kernel-dev-roadmap dept.

kwabbles writes "The Linux Foundation launched the Linux Weather Forecast yesterday. It features 'current conditions' for kernel development, a 'short-term forecast,' and a 'long-term forecast.' Now developers and organizations that want to see when certain implementations/fixes are planned can find answers at this informative and handy site."

77 of 98 comments (clear)

  1. Linux Climatologist by MyLongNickName · · Score: 4, Funny

    Although I cannot predict day to day fluctuations, I can say with a high degree of certainty that in 1000 years, Linux usage among the population will be around 62% with a 73 percentage point uncertainty. My models are never wrong.

    --
    See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
    1. Re:Linux Climatologist by eln · · Score: 2, Informative

      Everyone knows the best way to get cheap karma is to post something that looks vaguely on-topic early in the thread. If you show up too late to get one of the first 10 or 15 posts, you reply to the first post. Doesn't matter what the first post says, moderators usually don't look to see if your post has anything to do with what you're replying to. There are plenty of stories around here where you see karma bait posted as a reply to a totally nonsensical first post. It works because, by my estimation, 80% of moderators semi-randomly assign moderations to the first half page of comments and ignore the rest.

      As of this writing, the post you replied to has already collected an "Insightful" mod, despite displaying virtually no insight. So you see, this technique really does work.

      This has been your first lesson in Karma Whoring 101. Join us next week when we discuss how to turn a "-1, Troll" into a "+5, Insightful" by replying to your own posts as AC.

    2. Re:Linux Climatologist by Andrewkov · · Score: 1

      I thought you were going to say that in 1000 years, Linux will finally be ready for the desktop!

    3. Re:Linux Climatologist by krisp · · Score: 1

      agreed

  2. Partly cloudy... by Gonrada · · Score: 5, Funny

    Partly cloudy with a slight chance of kernel panics.

    --
    What the hell is Karma and why is mine always "Bad"
    1. Re:Partly cloudy... by Daimanta · · Score: 1

      Will the LWF also predict the consequences of global OS warming on the number of wild penguins?

      --
      Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power lost.
    2. Re:Partly cloudy... by jollyreaper · · Score: 1

      > Partly cloudy with a slight chance of kernel panics.

      Forecast has been updated to include a 50% chance of flaming hail.

      --
      Kwisatz Haderach
      Sell the spice to CHOAM
      This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
  3. I don't think it means what you think it does. by gihan_ripper · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I was looking forward to reading reports of stormy weather ahead, or even of bright skies. But this seems be be more of a roadmap, not really a forecast. If someone can read this more deeply and see the analogy, then please enlighten me!

    --
    Phoenix, Boston, Little Rock, see a pattern?
    1. Re:I don't think it means what you think it does. by MyLongNickName · · Score: 4, Funny

      If someone can read this more deeply and see the analogy, then please enlighten me!

      You see, it's like a car with a banana in its radiator...

      --
      See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
    2. Re:I don't think it means what you think it does. by eln · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I think they call it a "forecast" rather than a "roadmap" because that way it's only an educated guess, and they only have to be as accurate as your local weatherman is at long-range forecasts (that is, not at all).

    3. Re:I don't think it means what you think it does. by bfields · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I think the word "roadmap" would imply some control over the process--this is what we plan to do next and when we're hoping to do it by, etc.

      The nature of the Linux community is such that there's not really anybody with the authority to give such a roadmap. Linus can say "no" to people, but he can't make them work on anything they're not interested in. And it's difficult for the various groups implementing new features to guarantee somebody else won't come up with a valid objection that will delay acceptance.

      So "forecast" seems more appropriate. They can examine various projects, guess which are closer to being done and which aren't, but can't promise anything.

    4. Re:I don't think it means what you think it does. by TeknoHog · · Score: 2, Funny

      You see, it's like a car with a banana in its radiator...

      I recall a MacGyver episode where they patch the bullet holes in a car radiator with a couple of eggs, as that stuff solidifies easily. That, in turn, reminds me of vegan baking where people often replace eggs with bananas. So, it's a perfect vegan MacGyver analogy!

      --
      Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
  4. Obligatory George Carlin by RealProgrammer · · Score: 3, Funny

    The Linux forecast for tonight is ... dark.

    --
    sigs, as if you care.
  5. AAPL is heading DOWN ! Sell !! Sell AAPL !! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    AAPL is heading DOWN ! Sell !! Sell AAPL !! Now !!

  6. UIO: Userspace IO drivers. by serviscope_minor · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Wow. Just wow. This is a fantastic development. This is an excellent complement to FUSE (userspace filesystems), libUSB (userspace USB drivers), X11 (many graphics drivers), sound mixing, and all the other random stuff farmed out to userspace where possible.

    Having develpoed in both user and kernel space, I know that userspace development is vastly easier: a crash is now only a segfault, debugging can be done easily and the most suitable language for the task can be used. This makes it faster and easier to develop both robust and efficient code.

    But, come on and look at Linux: it's slowly becoming a microkernel: everything that can be in userspace is slowly moving there. And that is a good thing.

    --
    SJW n. One who posts facts.
    1. Re:UIO: Userspace IO drivers. by mfh · · Score: 1

      You're right about Linux, but I wouldn't want to see other OSes move towards userspace as much. The others lack the necessary support and free access to keep userspace away from asshats.

      --
      The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
    2. Re:UIO: Userspace IO drivers. by serviscope_minor · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I agree. Userspace drivers open the way for non-GPL dirvers. Whether you're idealistic or pragmatic, closed source drivers are not a good thing. Just look at the stability of the Intel graphics drivers, compared to ATI (awful) and Nvidia (quite good, but still can causes crashes).

      Sadly, UIO can be abused to make non GPL drivers. However, since there's now a nice socket, reverse engineering should be easier, and also I expect that the OSS benefits will greatly outweigh the few hardware manufacturers with misplaced priorities.

      Look at FUSE for the wonderful profusion of interesting filing systems. Now Linux has all those features missing from traditional UNIX. You want versioned filesystems? Choose your VCS. Want a database filesystem? Choose the one which uses your favourite database backend. Want a real (as in works for GUI and commandline programs) recycle/trash bin? Got that too (a feature which is unique to Linux as compared to other mainstream OSs).

      And so on. Userspace is wonderful, but can be abused. But it's too wonderful to ignore.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    3. Re:UIO: Userspace IO drivers. by Ant+P. · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Yeah, but at least with a kernel driver you _know_ it's crashed.

      If that X server hangs is the display just frozen, has X hard-locked the console, or is the whole thing hosed requiring a hard reset? In times like that you're left with crashing the kernel manually using the reset button because there's no other way out. KGI/GGI was supposed to solve that particular problem, but nobody seems to care.

      I've had USB devices hang the machine too, but X11 is a really bad offender.

    4. Re:UIO: Userspace IO drivers. by serviscope_minor · · Score: 2, Informative

      You'll know if a userspace driver crashes. The device will become unavailable. Then look for the coredump or logfile. But at least you have a coredump to run gdb on now.

      But X doesn't always hand the machine. Often you can ssh in and resrart at. Also, that way, you don't loose files which haven't been committed to disk.

      But it's true, userspace drives don't magically make software better. X can crash the machine, especially as it's doing funky stuff over the AGP/PCI[X] bus.

      However, X is one of many things. In general less kernel crashes is a good thing. If nothing else, it makes drivers easier to debug, which means less driver crashes, too. Also, C is a great language, but no language is perfect for all things. Some drivers may be much easier (therefore shorter and fewer bugs) to write in other languages. Again, that leads to fewer driver crashes, which again is a good thing.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    5. Re:UIO: Userspace IO drivers. by chill · · Score: 1

      Really? Most of the time that X has locked on me -- and it has been pretty rare -- it was either handled by a CTRL-ALT-BKSP or SSH in and kill the process. I can't remember ever having X lock the machine up to require a reboot.

      --
      Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
    6. Re:UIO: Userspace IO drivers. by trifish · · Score: 2, Funny

      But, come on and look at Linux: it's slowly becoming a microkernel:

      In other words, it's slowly getting towards the superior desktop OS design -- the one that Windows uses. And it's really no wonder.

    7. Re:UIO: Userspace IO drivers. by setagllib · · Score: 1

      What, like how Windows has the entire X11 analogue backend and graphics drivers in the kernel? And how it has to search for up to several minutes for drivers every time you plug a USB device into a new position on the bus, as opposed to Linux' sub-second response even when it has to load modules?

      Windows is like the poster child for failed engineering. Even DirectX requires orders of magnitude more kernel/user switches than OpenGL, and they're trying to hack around it any way they can. It's just humiliating.

      --
      Sam ty sig.
    8. Re:UIO: Userspace IO drivers. by trifish · · Score: 1

      What, like how Windows

      A device driver written for Windows NT4 works on Windows Vista without any modifications, whereas a device driver written for Linux kernel 2.6.18 doesn't work on (nor compile against) kernel 2.6.19.

    9. Re:UIO: Userspace IO drivers. by hatchet · · Score: 1

      My windowsXP never crashed. Talk about linux stability... pffft...

    10. Re:UIO: Userspace IO drivers. by trifish · · Score: 1

      Hello Anonymous Coward,

      The "device driver" written "for" Linux is supposed to be integrated _into_ the main Linux source tree. If they didn't do that, it's their own fault and they deserve breakage.

      There is no stable (i.e. standardized) external driver API in the Linux kernel, so any further discussion in that direction is pointless and makes you look like a fool.

    11. Re:UIO: Userspace IO drivers. by linuxrocks123 · · Score: 1

      Hello trifish,

      > There is no stable (i.e. standardized) external driver API in the Linux kernel, so any further discussion in that direction is pointless and makes you look like a fool.

      You completely ignored his comment, which stated that Linux does not have a stable external driver API by design. It's not necessary given Linux's development model, and it's not a flaw. In fact, it's a good thing. You're the fool for not seeing that, and for not reading the kernel documentation file he referenced.

      --
      vi ~/.emacs # I'm probably going to Hell for this.
    12. Re:UIO: Userspace IO drivers. by trifish · · Score: 1

      It's not necessary given Linux's development model

      Really? Then ask yourself why Hitachi et al asked for it, and why the grand parent poster wrote "Linux is slowly becoming a microkernel" (certainly because monolithic kernel is great, eh?)

      Ok, you're yet another ignorant fool and a blind zealot who believes that a legacy system designed in the 60's is suitable for desktop in the year 2007.

    13. Re:UIO: Userspace IO drivers. by linuxrocks123 · · Score: 1

      > Really? Then ask yourself why Hitachi et al asked for it, and why the grand parent poster wrote "Linux is slowly becoming a microkernel" (certainly because monolithic kernel is great, eh?)

      Hitachi et al want a stable driver API so they can write binary drivers. Linux doesn't want or need binary drivers. A stable driver API has nothing to do with the monolithic vs. microkernel debate.

      > Ok, you're yet another ignorant fool and a blind zealot who believes that a legacy system designed in the 60's is suitable for desktop in the year 2007.

      No, you're an ignorant fool and blind zealot who can't even remember what we're talking about.

      --
      vi ~/.emacs # I'm probably going to Hell for this.
    14. Re:UIO: Userspace IO drivers. by trifish · · Score: 1

      Hitachi et al want a stable driver API so they can write binary drivers. Linux doesn't want or need binary drivers.

      It's not only closed source drivers. But also open source THIRD PARTY EXTERNAL drivers, such as TrueCrypt. Every MINOR update of the Linux kernel caused the TrueCrypt driver to stop working and it required that the developers REWROTE parts of the driver! Do you get it now? Why a stable API for drivers is needed?

      Now go play with your toy designed in the 1960's for mainframes. And don't bother replying -- I don't read messages from religious zealots.

    15. Re:UIO: Userspace IO drivers. by linuxrocks123 · · Score: 1

      > It's not only closed source drivers. But also open source THIRD PARTY EXTERNAL drivers, such as TrueCrypt. Every MINOR update of the Linux kernel caused the TrueCrypt driver to stop working and it required that the developers REWROTE parts of the driver!

      Yup, out-of-tree development tends to do that. They should get it merged. This has been hashed over and over again on LKML.

      > Do you get it now? Why a stable API for drivers is needed?

      No, what you don't seem to get is that Linux just doesn't work that way, and it is very successful in the way it does work.

      > And don't bother replying -- I don't read messages from religious zealots.

      I tend not to read messages from ignorant fools, so I guess we're even.

      --
      vi ~/.emacs # I'm probably going to Hell for this.
    16. Re:UIO: Userspace IO drivers. by trifish · · Score: 1

      Yup, out-of-tree development tends to do that.

      I'm glad you acknowledged that a stable API is needed and that there are problems with the Linux model. What you call "out-of-tree" we in the real world call just regular "software". You know the world where anyone can develop and release any software under any license they wish (not just under the GPL as part of a bloated monolithic kernel that includes every driver ever written).

    17. Re:UIO: Userspace IO drivers. by linuxrocks123 · · Score: 1

      Heh, okay now we've both violated our promise to not reply anymore ;)

      > I'm glad you acknowledged that a stable API is needed and that there are problems with the Linux model.

      There's no problem with Linux, and it doesn't need a stable API. There are problems with people who for some odd reason think they can do out-of-tree development without having to deal with the versioning conflicts inherent in maintaining a private branch of a software project.

      > What you call "out-of-tree" we in the real world call just regular "software". You know the world where anyone can develop and release any software under any license they wish (not just under the GPL as part of a bloated monolithic kernel that includes every driver ever written).

      Nope, the Linux kernel is one software project, drivers included, no matter how much that fact offends your religion. A driver for Linux is not a piece of software, it's a piece of Linux, and (for reasons the kernel developers and I have stated /many/ times before), that's how it should be. Now, anyone is free to checkout a private branch of Linux and start working on it, which is what the external driver developers are in effect doing, but if you do that you have to be prepared to deal with version conflicts when you merge your checkout with the mainline branch.

      Linux doesn't want out-of-tree drivers. It wants those drivers to be in the mainline. And having an unstable driver API gives developers incentives to merge faster, since they have to deal with breakage if they don't. All this is by design, and it actually all works pretty well in practice. Because of this model I only need two out-of-tree drivers to get full functionality on my laptop, and one of those is in the process of being merged to the mainline, probably because of the difficulties involved in /not/ doing that. This merge will make maintenance of the driver easier, stop me from having to download an out-of-tree source tarball, and generally make life better for everyone involved. What's your problem with this?

      --
      vi ~/.emacs # I'm probably going to Hell for this.
    18. Re:UIO: Userspace IO drivers. by trifish · · Score: 1

      You know what? Some people never learn. So I suggest you continue playing with a legacy-design OS from the 60's, which makes it impossible to develop third-party drivers that don't stop working after each minor update of the kernel.

      I will continue using binaries of excellent open-source and closed source drivers written for Windows NT4... on Windows XP and Vista.

      This was my last post to you. If you post anything in response I won't read it, so don't bother. You're a stupid moron and I dislike communicating with such people.

      Good bye.

  7. and for the weekend outlook by kc2keo · · Score: 3, Funny

    we will see some segmentation faults and a 30% possibility of a new error called kernel disintegration. Also in international news the war on errors seems pretty grim.

  8. That's great, but... by xednieht · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Is there a way to summarize the summary page with a couple of graphics or pictures and then offer links to greater detail. That first page is a lot to digest at a glance. Weather.com does a good job summarizing mountains of info, perhaps a similar approach for the summary would help.

    Also, the xml feed is has a slight syntax error:

    XML Parsing Error: xml declaration not at start of external entity Location: http://www.linux-foundation.org/index.php?title=Li nux_Weather_Forecast&action=history&feed=atom
    Line Number 49, Column 1:
    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
    ^
    --

    Hope is the currency of fools
    1. Re:That's great, but... by LighterShadeOfBlack · · Score: 1

      I think it's better all in one. Makes it a lot easier to read whole chunks of info all at once instead of having to go forwards and back for each item of information. If you want to go straight to a specific point there's a TOC right at the start.

      I've got to say I really like it. Finally a single location that gives a good, concise, and easy to read summary of things to come for Linux

      --
      Spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, and stupid comments are intentional.
    2. Re:That's great, but... by richlv · · Score: 1

      btw, for 'things to come' in a near future kernelnewbies changelogs were great. unfortunately, it seems that one for 2.6.23 is pretty much abandoned...
      http://kernelnewbies.org/LinuxChanges

      --
      Rich
  9. That's a flawed analogy. by RealProgrammer · · Score: 5, Funny

    The kernel is nothing like a car, with or without a banana in its radiator or anywhere else. I'm sorry, but that just doesn't describe the situation at all.

    Imagine, if you will, a perfect state machine with N inputs and G(N) outputs, where each output is a Thorgen-Zeta function of all the inputs bounded by the radial square root of each of its eigenvalues. Clearly, the scope is integrable under N, which is probably what led you to your assumption. But where your car-fruit analogy falls down is in assuming that complete T-Z continuity with respect to time.

    So a better analogy would be a car with a fish in its tailpipe, dripping maggots along the highway in the rain. Some of the maggots survive to become features, but some are squashed by schoolbuses full of sweaty cheerleaders.

    --
    sigs, as if you care.
    1. Re:That's a flawed analogy. by eln · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yes, of course you're right, but I think if you reversed the polarity on the graviton fields around the vehicle, thus allowing the boson radiation to properly align with the tachyon pulse beam naturally generated by a properly seated banana, I think you'll find the OP's analogy is actually quite apt.

    2. Re:That's a flawed analogy. by Adambomb · · Score: 4, Funny

      The day busloads of sweaty cheerleaders are within a kilometer of anything relating to Linux is the day the adoption rate breaks the gauge.

      --
      Ice Cream has no bones.
    3. Re:That's a flawed analogy. by SaDan · · Score: 5, Funny

      No kidding! I'd love to adopt a sweaty cheerleader!

      Wait... what?

    4. Re:That's a flawed analogy. by cyphercell · · Score: 3, Funny

      I take it you don't have video working in Linux yet?

      --
      Under the influence of Post-Cyberpunk Gonzo Journalism
    5. Re:That's a flawed analogy. by Adambomb · · Score: 1

      Tsk, confusing the virtual with the real again would we?

      and clean out that keyboard!

      --
      Ice Cream has no bones.
  10. Expect ... by Midnight+Thunder · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If its anything like regular weather forecasts, then expect yesterday's forecast to be better than tomorrow's, and long term forecasts to be totally random ;)

    --
    Jumpstart the tartan drive.
    1. Re:Expect ... by xtracto · · Score: 1

      Unless it is the UK... I always wonder why is there a weather section for the UK. Everytime I see it the forecast is the same, cloudy with rain. I think being a weather forecaster here in the UK is a heck of an easy task, you can always give the correct forecast by going with the "its gonna rane lad" choice...

      --
      Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'I can't configure Debian'
  11. Neato by LordPhantom · · Score: 4, Funny

    Cool.... now we can all shelter whenever there is a SEVERE LINUS WARNING.

    1. Re:Neato by Gazzonyx · · Score: 1

      Cool.... now we can all shelter whenever there is a SEVERE LINUS WARNING. The required Tanenbaum front has been too quiet and the Gnome index has been low lately to issue such warnings. All we have is CFS overcast, at worst, so far as I can tell.


      Perhaps we should get RMS and ESR to bug him a bit? Or we could lock him in a room with John Dvorak for a few hours and insist they discuss "the problem with current operating systems", until they have an RFC drafted that they both agree on?

      --

      If I mod you up, it doesn't necessarily mean I agree with what you've said, sorry.

  12. Linus will veto it! by mujo · · Score: 1

    Coz he doesnt like weather forecast. Never have and probably never will...

  13. Linux Foundation by jshriverWVU · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Not to sound lame, but what is the Linux Foundation? I know gnu fosters development of a lot of software, sourceforge hosts a lot of projects, linus and the huge team does the kernel, Ubuntu/Redhat/Debian/Suse/etc take all of the software to make a distribution. I just dont see what the LF does for the community.

    Not flaming, if they provide a good resource more power to them.

    1. Re:Linux Foundation by NickFortune · · Score: 4, Informative

      I just dont see what the LF does for the community.

      Well, they formed from the merger of the OSDL and the Free Standards Group. So they do everything those two thing groups did, including pay Linus to hack on the kernel.

      Looking at their about pahge, they also provide legal services, work to promote standards, and provide a neutral forum for debate. The also run sites like LinuxPrinting.org (as it used to be called).

      How much of that is truly useful is perhaps open to question. One of the legal services for instance is protecting the Linux trademark, which hasn't proved the most popular activity in the open source milieu. I've also seen concerns voiced about the joining procedure (you buy your way in) and the fact that the board seemed overly staffed with corporate types, with actual developers being a bit thin on the ground.

      I think the big trouble is that everyone knew who the OSDL were. This new entity is going to take a bit of getting used to. That said, they seem to be doing good things, so more power to 'em.

      --
      Don't let THEM immanentize the Eschaton!
    2. Re:Linux Foundation by GMFTatsujin · · Score: 1

      If you think the Linux Foundation is too far apart from the community, wait until you hear about the BSD Foundation on the other side of the galaxy at Star's End ...

  14. My Forecast by GooseYArd · · Score: 2, Insightful

    My forecast is this forecast will be maintained for about 3 weeks.

    1. Re:My Forecast by Corbet · · Score: 1

      Actually, it's already been maintained since sometime in April. Plus it's a good complement to my other kernel-watching and reporting work, which I've been maintaining for almost ten years now. How much do you wanna bet on your forecast...? :)

      --
      Jonathan Corbet, LWN.net
  15. Ah. by RealProgrammer · · Score: 5, Funny

    I can see that now. Yes, I had failed to account for the natural tachyon output of properly seated bananas (and the lower but significant output of properly seated plantains, as well). But we may be drifting slightly off-topic.

    The OP is correct: the Linux Weather Forecast is like a car with a banana (properly seated) in the radiator.

    --
    sigs, as if you care.
  16. Actually, it IS yesterdays forecast... by jesterpilot · · Score: 1

    since it says 3.5.6 is the latest version of KDE...

    --
    Trust me, I work for the government.
  17. Darn it by tunabomber · · Score: 1

    ...neither the GNOME or KDE sections had anything when we'll get a panel applet for displaying up-to-date Linux Weather Forecasts

    --

    pi = 3.141592653589793helpimtrappedinauniversefactory71 ...
  18. I'd just like to see fewer regressions... by Erwos · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Something that drives me particularly nuts about Linux is the number of regressions that happen. Don't get me wrong - I love Linux. But it feels like, in their haste to get things done better than ever, they sometimes reintroduce old flaws.

    Case-in-point: Firewire, and more precisely, multi-LUN support. Sounds esoteric, but it's actually not too uncommon to find hardware that needs it these days. When 2.6 came out, 1394 (as a whole) was just plain broken. They finally got it fixed in 2.6.12 or so, but then, in 2.6.22, they introduced a new Firewire stack - which promptly broke multi-LUN support. Maybe not everyone needs this, but I'm heavily dependent on it. I'm now in a position where I can't do any kernel upgrades until I've confirmed the fix has made it into 2.6.23 final.

    I know it's something of a petty gripe, but I'd appreciate it if Linus could do a better job of making sure regressions like that didn't slip back in. I don't need a repeat of the bad weather that we've already had. :)

    --
    Plausible conjecture should not be misrepresented as proof positive.
    1. Re:I'd just like to see fewer regressions... by bjourne · · Score: 1

      Hear hear. The same kind of regression is causing havoc for thousands of Feisty users. A bug in acpi on Linux > 2.6.17 causes knotify to steal 100% cpu after linux has run for a little while. I don't think even Microsoft could leave such a regression unfixed for so long.

      --
      Football Odds
    2. Re:I'd just like to see fewer regressions... by Shewmaker · · Score: 1

      If only Linus had an army of people with a huge variety of hardware
      running release candidate kernels looking for regressions ...

      --
      "For the Snark was a Boojum, you see." -From the Hunting of the Snark: An Agony in Eight Fits, by Lewis Carroll
    3. Re:I'd just like to see fewer regressions... by xehonk · · Score: 1

      Actually the new firewire stack is optional, it does not break anything.
      In addition to that, multi-lun devices are supported in the firewire git repository already (which I'm currently running). I get a huge performance boost from the new stack too.

    4. Re:I'd just like to see fewer regressions... by Sinical · · Score: 1

      Redhat user? The new Firewire stack was marked experimental, but at least the Redhat folks decided that the benefits of the (much) better security model were worth it. Actually, I think Debian has gone to it now, too (?). Basically, it was *known* that there would be regressions, and the new stack was inserted to give a wider group of people a chance to try it, which suddenly led to various distros jumping all over it.

      The new stack is 1/3rd the size of the old and discards a lot of garbage. There're really only 2 guys doing active kernel development (Kristian (new stack author) and Stefan Richter (who graciously took over maintenance of the old stack but largely works with just the sbp2 stuff)). Occasionally you might see something out of Dan Dennedy (libraw1394 and some other libraries) or someone, but really there's not a lot going on there. I say this as someone who uses just about *all* the features the old stack has to offer and who had to mod the driver to do what I wanted.

    5. Re:I'd just like to see fewer regressions... by Erwos · · Score: 1

      Thanks for the confirmation of that. I'm looking forward to 2.6.23 now. :)

      --
      Plausible conjecture should not be misrepresented as proof positive.
  19. User space covers GNOME and KDE -- but not X? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I find that rather odd, seeing as some of the most important changes we see happen not in Linux, Gnome, or KDE, but in Xorg.

    Then again, what about some other projects? GCC, for instances? Improvements to GCC could potentially improve a vast number of Linux programs. Maybe that ought to be included in the forecast?

    The list of important projects could really go on for a while...

    1. Re:User space covers GNOME and KDE -- but not X? by Corbet · · Score: 1

      In fact, there's no end of other things which could be covered here - I agree. Just keeping up with the kernel is challenge enough for the moment. The scope will be expanded when it is possible.

      --
      Jonathan Corbet, LWN.net
  20. And now, the weather by jrothwell97 · · Score: 1

    We can expect calm CPU usage, 24 to 36% for the next three hours, but I can assure you that there is not going to be a hurricane in Wales.

    --
    Those using pirated Tinysoft signatures(TM) are a real threat to society and should all be thrown in jail.
  21. Not complete until... by Vexler · · Score: 1

    ...they introduce pleasant-looking weatherwoman, and cheesy muzak.

  22. Weather Forecast? by Your_Mom · · Score: 2

    Personally, I'd rather have a "linux-kernel flamewar fire threat gauge"

    I'd check that hourly.

    --
    Objects in the blog are closer then they ap
    1. Re:Weather Forecast? by kwabbles · · Score: 1

      Just RSS the Linux Kernel Mailing List. Instant kernel flame war notification.

      There's somewhat of a flame war going on right now about filesystems.

      Good entertainment.

      --
      Just disrupt the deflector shield with a tachyon burst.
  23. Today's LKML Flamewar Threat: "Moderate" by Cid+Highwind · · Score: 2, Funny

    Low: Peace and harmony, everyone must be on vacation this week
    Moderate: Noobs complaining about nVidia driver crashes
    Elevated: Linus just tried GNOME... again
    High: Con Kolivas and Ingo Molnar go mano-a-mano over scheduling algorithms
    Extreme: Hans Reiser is back, and he's armed, dangerous, and off his meds!

    --
    0 1 - just my two bits
  24. In honor... by jd · · Score: 1

    ...of the demonstrated warped sense of humor, I hereby propose that all Linux Kernel Mailing List flamewars are now referred to as cloudy.

    --
    It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
  25. Not quite. by jd · · Score: 4, Funny

    The seating must be in the Complex domain, and for the output to generate the necessary synchrotron tachyon, the banana must be entangled with the fish in the tailpipe, as postulated by Minsky space.

    --
    It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
  26. Personally... by jd · · Score: 1

    ...I'd quite like it if they used weather symbols to indicate the probability of adoption and timeframe, and the degree of concern over it. For example, sun mixed with cloud would indicate prospect of being adopted in near future. Lightning would indicate that it'd be adopted over the dead bodies of 50% or more of the list.

    --
    It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
  27. Re:Like predicting Sunny in California by Jello+B. · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Compiz Fusion. Microsoft was chasing Compiz's taillights with Windows Vista.

  28. Re:Like predicting Sunny in California by Hucko · · Score: 1

    Firefox, on tech merits and compatibility with purposed interface. On density, Firefox can not compete with Internet Explorer.

    --
    Semi-automatic amateur armchair Australian philosopher; conjecture ready at any moment...
  29. Meanwhile, on the Linux *developer* forecast... by Adhemar82 · · Score: 1, Funny

    Mountain Dew in the morning, damp throughout the day, and 0% chance of showers.

  30. Re:Like predicting Sunny in California by Xabraxas · · Score: 1

    Apache, Firefox, LyX, Ardour, VLC, Eclipse, Compiz/Beryl and so on. There are a ton of FOSS applications out there that are just as good or better than the competition. There are FOSS applications that are leading the pack. Just because you have limited knowledge of FOSS doesn't mean it isn't good software.

    --
    Time makes more converts than reason
  31. Re:Like predicting Sunny in California by Hucko · · Score: 1

    It does? I haven't had it crash on me. Sorry, I wasn't aware of the problem.

    --
    Semi-automatic amateur armchair Australian philosopher; conjecture ready at any moment...