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Linux Kernel 2.6.29 Released
diegocgteleline.es writes "Linus Torvalds has released Linux 2.6.29. The new features include the inclusion of kernel graphic modesetting, WiMAX, access point Wi-Fi support, inclusion of squashfs and a preliminary version of btrfs, a more scalable version of RCU, eCryptfs filename encryption, ext4 no journal mode, OCFS2 metadata checksums, improvements to the memory controller, support for filesystem freeze, and other features. Here is the full list of changes."
I totally misread that.
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Ummm I'm pretty sure thats the ability to act as a wifi access point, which windows can't do yet.
I can't believe this wasn't mentioned..
Here's what the new linux logo looks like for this release.
Filesystems in the kernel, savages!
There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
Yes it is indeed. The MS funny-boy above must have missed the obvious point. But that isn't in any way a surprise, is it?
Further investigation into the cause of dataloss under the Ext4 Filesystem has revealed that it is not the fault of Application Developers, Ext4, nor even the evil POSIX manual of Doom. Its turns out that it Obama is so corrupt that he has caused major dataloss all around the nation. There! At least I'm an *on topic* Troll. Was that so hard?
The most important feature is the new mascot, Tuz. FTFA:
As everybody knows, only important fixes will be merged into the mainline kernel at this late stage of the development cycle. One of the fixes merged by Linus on March 17 was a high-resolution SVG image of "Tuz," the mascot of the 2009 linux.conf.au conference. Tuz, in his new home at Documentation/logo.svg, serves to remind the world of the difficulties faced by the Tasmanian devil and how the linux.conf.au attendees supported the effort to save this species from extinction.
eCryptfs filename encryption
Here's the eCryptfs home page for more information on this nifty addition.
512 MB RAM, 20 GB disk, 200 GB transfer, five datacenters. $19.95/month.
Tuz the Tasmanian devil has replaced Tux as the kernel mascot (for this release) to raise awareness of this endangered species (which is threatened with extinction due to a scientifically interesting but horrific transmissible facial cancer.).
The World Wide Web is dying. Soon, we shall have only the Internet.
We herd you like graphic modesetting, so we included the inclusion in your kernel so you can set modes while you include.
:)
Sorry - "include the inclusion" just screamed out for this.
Been working for years, for me.
I just plug in my printer, use the add printer wizard, select model, various sharing methods - no stupid driver installation that installs a bunch of bloatware.
Plug in my tablet, works instantly - no stupid driver installation that includes tray icon background processes.
Plug in wireless device, works instantly - no stupid driver installation that includes some special wireless manager that has a terrible UI and doesn't really work properly.
Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
Even in Linux, most distro's don't have full filesystems built into the kernel. Instead they only build in a tiny in-memory fs that allows them to read an initrd. This means that they can have virtually any filesystem as a root filesystem without having to compile every conceivable filesystem into their general purpose kernel.
It is also possible to avoid ever booting in the way Linux machines boot. Instead, the boot process could act like the hibernate/resume functionality of Linux. So instead of loading programs into the address space from a filesystem, we simply read the resulting address space from disk. After all, some embedded devices don't need to ever use a filesystem, so in these cases loading a fs would be a waste of resources.
It uses the hostap driver on Mac - that's HOST Access Point driver, same as what's used in Linux. It creates full access point, not an ad-hoc network. It works well, you can connect to it with other devices just like you would to any other WAP.
It isn't built into the kernel though (nothing much is on Darwin). This Linux feature they are talking about now has been around for a while. It hasn't been built into the kernel before though.
Sorry dude, you have to wait for kernel 2.8 for the joy and beauty modules that will enable your desktop product to have those attributes.
Cool! Amazing Toys.
What I find really weird is that on Windows, the default paper size is always "letter", when most people use A4.
Not in the U.S.
This author takes full ownership and responsibility for the unpopular opinions outlined above.
As long as you followed step #0. Check printer compatibility here and scanner compatibility here. Unless they got a Tux logo or something, because there are still devices that don't have Linux drivers. I agree, when it works it works much better on Windows and most things work, but a two minute googling may still save you a lot of grief. Plus, there's nothing wrong with supporting manufacturers that really have first-class Linux drivers.
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
[sigh]
This again?
For the last time, Gnome and KDE are not going to merge! And we don't want them to merge! Healthy, friendly competition is good!
A Single-Unified-Linux-Desktop is neither desirable nor necessary for "world domination" or even "the year of the Linux Desktop"
No sig for the moment.
No kidding.
I'm honestly not sure it still applies to KDE in the 4.x era, but at least in the 3.x era, the philosophies were quite different. Gnome's policy of (pseudoquote) "there's one best way to do it and we don't want to confuse the users with too many config options" was extremely frustrating for many KDE users and devs, particularly the power users that /like/ to configure the desktop until it uniquely fits them like a glove, while likewise, the KDE "if it can be configured, different people are going to want different things, so let's expose every single possible configuration option to the user in the GUI" was extremely frustrating to many Gnome users and devs, particularly those who just want it to work, damit, because they have work to do.
The point is, forcing the devs and users who find the one policy most useful to follow the other one, surely is effective... at causing useless squabbles and getting nothing done! Keep the "there's only one true way" folks away from the "make it configurable for everyone" folks, and both types can continue to improve their product without getting in the way of each other.
Similarly of course with all the other "Linux is too divided" debates, from too many distributions, to vi/emacs, to... whatever. It's a free community and part of the strength therein lies in the freedom. Even if it were possible to take away that freedom to create one's own product, there'd be little point, as were it to happen, we'd just end up back with the monopolistic monstrosity that is MS. One size does NOT fit all, and encouraging differentiation and innovation, certainly based on common standards, but /only/ /based/ on common standards, is a /good/ thing.
That said, the one thing that does keep the Linux community from incompatibly splitting up much like the proprietary Unix community did is again, that it's all open and shared. Each distribution and individual app therefore has an interest not only in doing what it was created for really well, even if that splits from the community, but ALSO in following the common solution where it really doesn't matter for what it was created for, because every deviation from the common solution costs maintenance time and resources, time and resources that could otherwise be invested in bettering either the differentiating aspects further, or in advancing the common ones. In practice this dynamic ensures that individual solutions only diverge from the common where it really matters to them, because every divergence costs resources, and divergence just for the sake of it is thus less efficient and dies out relatively quickly, compared to those who focus resources on divergence only where it directly furthers their goals and on otherwise bettering the common solution, submitting patches upstream, etc. Thus, unlike the proprietary Unix solutions, divergence for the sake of divergence simply isn't efficient enough to survive, and ultimately dies. But where there's a good reason for divergence, that only serves to drive a sharper focus on bettering the different solutions that remain, driving the evolution of the community as a whole even faster.
(Umm... (looking around) I guess it's pretty obvious that I'm a "True Believer" (tm), isn't it. Yes, I am, and for that I'm not going to apologize! =:^)
Duncan
"Every nonfree program has a lord, a master,
and if you use the program, he is your master."
R Stallman
The Linux wireless drivers page lists which drivers support master/access point mode (see the AP column). The list isn't perfect (the hostap driver definitely supports AP mode :-) but it seems to be a case of omissions. The table also says what form factor the supported chipsets come in (so you can tell which ones you will be able to get in USB form). I'd guess the rt2500usb or p54usb drivers would be your best bet.
Another useful page is the Linux wireless chipset directory which tries to list which cards have which chipsets (there's even a single page table with all the added chipsets but I won't link to it from here). This lets you build a list of boxes with the desired chipsets inside them (finding out whether this is true in reality can in itself can be a fraught process though). The chipset is really the important part in all of this.
I'm not going to point to an Amazon page because I have not bought a USB wifi card with the capabilities you describe from Amazon. I'm in no position to tell you that XYZ USB device on Amazon definitely works as I haven't done it myself. I have used hostapd on Linux and OpenBSD before now on a creaky old Prism 2.5 card and that worked for me but again that's not what you asked.
Finally here's a guide to using hostapd to set a card up in access point mode (just using iwconfig to set master mode is not enough). Googling for hostapd linux will turn up plenty more guides which may be easier to follow.
Good luck!
A4 isn't meant to be equal to the golden ratio. It is meant to be 1/Root2, or Root2, depending on your outlook on life. Designed such that if you stick two of them together, you get the next size up. Or on cutting one in half, get the next size down; again, depending on your outlook on life.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_size
The golden ratio isn't really all that useful for writing paper. The A system is based on A0 being 1 square metre, and the sides being in a sqrt(2) proportion so that each time you cut an A(n) sheet in half along the long edge, you get two A(n+1) sheets. Plus, it makes calculating letter weights really easy: given the paper weight in g/m^2, you just divide that by 2^4 = 16 for A4, 2^5 = 32 for A5, etc, then multiply by the number of sheets.
Kernel Mode Setting (KMS) is only for Intel hardware in this release. Other graphics hardware will have to wait for a later release.
The golden ratio isn't really all that useful for writing paper.
Except that, when you have an long-side-leading A4 printer, it can also print A3, because the long side of A4 is the same as the short side of A3. It makes the printer a little more versatile.
-- The Internet is a too slow way of doing things, you'd never do without it.