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Linux Kernel 4.4 LTS Officially Released
prisoninmate writes: January 10, 2016, will enter in the Linux history books as the day when the Linux kernel 4.4 LTS (Long-Term Support) has been officially released by Linus Torvalds and his team of hard working kernel developers. Prominent features of Linux kernel 4.4 LTS include 3D support in the virtual GPU driver, allowing for 3D hardware-accelerated graphics in virtualization guests, a leaner and faster loop device that supports Asynchronous I/O and Direct I/O, thus increasing the system's performance and saving memory, and support for Open-Channel Solid State Drives (SSDs) through LightNVM. Phoronix also took a look during the newest kernel's development cycle, and has an overview of 4.4's new features.
For a more complete changelog:
http://kernelnewbies.org/Linux...
I know you're joking, but if I ever have plenty of free time, I'll go here and spend some time figuring out how to boot systemd on the raw metal, making a true systemdOS. And I never joke. j/k. not.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
They matter on my desktop.
They matter on the desktops of all these administrations over the world that deploy linux operating system.
They matter in all the cloud infrastructure that rely on virtualization for load balancing.
They matter in the data center that are moving toward SSD for I/O.
They matter in 80% of the cell phones in the world that deploy the linux kernel.
Folks, it bothers me that even with all these features, Linux [still] doesn't matter on the desktop. Where are these features really having impact?
Do you feel inadequate if you aren't using the most popular computer OS or something? I never ascribed to the idea thatm one should use Windows because it is the most "popular". I use linux on the desktop because I like it. That's all I need.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
Sadly, I don't think systemd is going away anytime soon. The biggest voice behind it (Red Hat) effectively controls the "GNU/Linux" world. The kernel is on a completely different level - it is the base that everything else (including systemd) builds around, and non-GNU Linux versions (like Android) will receive these features.
I'm starting to think GNU is the problem with "GNU/Linux" these days.
... how exactly does someone run the latest and greated Linux kernel? My trusty Ubuntu 14.04 shows kernel 3.16. Some work I'm doing in Yocto on a Freescale ARM board shows something like 3.19 for the kernel version. Is there some mysterious bleeding edge distro to be had somewhere that is always up to date on everything, or at least the kernel? Or do I roll my own, install on Ubuntu 14.04 (for example) and hope it all works? Enquiring minds want to know!
Look at the subject for fuck sake, anybody with any clue about this knows that this has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with systemd. What do you expect the kernel developers are supposed to do about systemd? Do you understand what systemd is? Obviously not. Do you understand what Linux is? Again obviously not. Part of the reason the genuine criticism of systemd was ignored is because it was drowned out by nitwits like you who don't have a clue what you're talking about and just want so desperately to feel important that you just inject yourself into a chinese-whispers echo chamber. Asking the kernel developers if they have done "fixed the systemd problem" is completely nonsensical.
Additionally Microsoft releases fucked versions of Windows every 5 minutes and despite that and the ease of which it is to install desktop Linux distros (both long before and after systemd) the vast majority of people still rather use Windows than dektop Linux distros. Microsoft doesnt have anything to fear from desktop Linux, the next Windows version could require the user to communicate in binary by banging 2 rocks together while Nadella climbs in your ass with a camera to make sure your TPM chip is working correctly and people would *still* rather use that than desktop Linux.
Like doing the work of actually supporting the alternatives yourself. I have a regular day job. I spend nights and weekends packaging software for a popular GNU/Linux distribution. I'm not alone. I have better things to do than to make sure that everything works with every possible combination of systemd or non-systemd just because a few people have something against it. If you think it's so important to not use systemd then you better step up and do the work yourself.
Folks, it bothers me that even with all these features, Linux [still] doesn't matter on the desktop.
Well, the thing is - "the desktop" matters less now than it ever has before.
#DeleteChrome
80% of computers sold last year were SOCs (mobiles). Another x% were servers. So the desktop market is maybe 15% of the market. More Linux systems were sold last year than Windows systems and the trend is increasing each year.
With that said, who said Linux doesn't matter on the desktop? It matters on MY desktop, and has for 15 years. For most of the last 15 years, I worked for an information security company, so Microsoft software was not allowed on the company network. All desktops and laptops were Linux, no as were some firewalls, load balancers, most servers, etc.
Assuming the average nerd weighs 100 kg a metric ton is just 10 people.
Which effectively doubles the *BSD user base, of course. :-)
Let me preface this by saying that I am not, by any means, a professional Linux administrator. I did, on the other hand, admin a bunch of servers as a part of my profession but those were mostly Unix and then Windows and then I hired competent professionals.
That said, I'd love to hate SystemD. I love me a good hate-fest. I keep pre-pitched torches at the ready and carry a fold-away assault pitchfork. I have various servers at home, some running on real server hardware, and a whole network of computers. (What self-respecting geek doesn't?) I have more VMs than I possibly need, doing things that I have no idea what I was thinking at the time, and am connected to my system in Maine via the most convoluted route possible. I have co-lo equipment that sits mostly idle and houses a few friend's sites and that's about it... It doesn't really do much of anything but, damn it, I have it!
You know what almost all these various computers have in common? Oh, they've got a whole host of distros on them - I'm not even sure I can quickly figure out which one is which any more. My topography looks like it was designed by a crack-addled five year old with admin privileges. I'm currently using a Live USB (Lubuntu), through a VPN, to my house, in a VM, to the 'net, through a VPN - and I'm skipping a few steps to keep it simple for you. This thing, for lack of a better word, shouldn't even run - never mind be stable. But this thing, with all these distros, has that one thing in common that I asked about. It's SystemD.
Yup. I guess they all have Linux in common but they sure as hell don't all have the same version of the kernel. So, there's that. But, they do all have SystemD (except for a few VMs - those are BSD, Minix, Indiana, and a few others but those don't actually get booted very often) for the most part. The all seem to work. Oh, I tried to hate SystemD. Yet, it's not caused me a single problem yet. I learned a few new comments, I've surely done something that should have broken it by now, and I've even read parts of the man pages.
Oh, I know it's not the Unix Way. Well, except it could be 'cause the Unix Way has exceptions. I know, it's got binary logging but - you can actually read those logs with a few different tools if you need to. I haven't needed to so I won't say that they work well but I'm told they work well enough. Yes, it does more than it needs to and it's not what we're used to. Meh, I'm okay with that - staying static is nice for some things and avoiding monolithic things is a good idea. Yet, it works. It works fine for me. I know, I am not everyone but I suspect the vast majority of the people complaining haven't actually used it. Even Hairyfeet complains and he's a Windows user - he's an ardent opponent of SystemD but he's probably never even tried a distro with it.
So, yeah, my pitchfork is starting to get rusty and needs to be sharpened again. My torches were lit but I just dunked 'em in water 'cause there didn't appear to be any monster that needed slaying. It's too bad, I had enough torches to go around. I want to hate it - I really do. It's not that I have some great skill that keeps it working - it works DESPITE my best efforts to screw things up. Oh, I screw up lots of things but it's not yet been the fault of SystemD nor has it prevented me from repairing my mistakes.
I dunno... I notice lots of lists of things people hate. I notice very few anecdotes of how it has harmed them. I've noticed even less actual compilations of data concerning it. If it's that bad then, well, we should have some data and someone would have compiled it. (The data, not systemd.) If a bumbling idiot, such as myself, can manage it - and not have a problem, then it seems only logical that smarter folks can figure it out, no? I mean, hell, I'm in a Live USB environment because I hosed GRUB again and I've not yet rebooted after fixing it. You'd think that, by now, SystemD would have been a problem for me. I kind of wish it had, then I could blame my mistakes on it.
What? I made a typo?!? It's
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
This is an article about the linux kernel. Random systemd complaints like the one you champion so are offtopic and very annoying. While systemd affects the greater GNU/Linux ecosystem, it has squat-all to do with the kernel.
I don't have mod points right now, and so didn't have to spend my mod points on -1-offtopic'ing the shrill anti-systemd crowd that try to hijack any vaguely linux-related thread. I was glad to see that someone else did most of the work already; but lots of this offtopic thread still needs to be modded down, present comment included.
And seriously, about 90% of the systemd rants, whines, complaints are completely offtopic--it's an annoying monomania, like watching a certain other monomaniac who seems to believe that the windows hosts file is relevant to any discussion. Seems like only about 1 in 10 of you people knows how to actually bend your agenda into an actual on-topic post. "When will the systemd problem be fixed" is not in any way on-topic in a discussion of a new kernel release and its support term, because--warning, technical information ahead--systemd isn't part of the kernel, doesn't come from the kernel team. The kernel is completely init-agnostic.
I know I won't convince you people with logic and perspective, but I hope that this information helps you to understand that it's not a grand shashdot conspiracy against you--you're just annoying and offtopic, and people like me are modding you appropriately.
You can't expect the anti-systemd crowd to know that systemd is not a relevant topic in the discussion of the kernel. They literally have no idea how Linux works. They constantly make absurd and baseless claims like " Any time I've tried using Linux lately on my computers I've experienced problems with systemd.". In order to believe that you would have to believe that the majority of users experience problems with systemd. It's like the "Don't trust SSDs!" crowd. They latch on to a technology that had a rough start and then try to claim that it is just as rough today as it was three years ago. The goal isn't to change the minds of Linux users, who would readily know that their claims are bullshit. The goal is to keep people away from Linux who might otherwise switch. I mean, I can't imagine who might have that goal of course, but clearly someone does. (To be fair it is likely a combo of M$ shills and other nayer-say-wells, like the guy who constantly gets bit by his own incompetence and blames the tool for his aborted creation.)
Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
Cool, thanks. I've never compiled and used my own kernel. I've bookmarked the Ubuntu documentation page and I might just have to give that a shot. I guess I could wait patiently for it to come down the pipe. Knowing it was coming was why I've not played with kexec yet - I figured that 4.4 was going to be here and an earlier announcement had said that it would have the ability to do security patches without the reboot. That's the feature that I'm most looking forward to - it's the feature that's most likely to actually impact me - a non-professional, largely, end-user.
I don't, for example, consider myself an admin though I do sort of hold that role as I have a number of servers and desktops, even remote hardware in a couple locations, and do all that work myself by asking loads of questions when I need to. Being able to patch without rebooting is a step in the right direction for me - it takes away one more point of potential failure/mishap. (A box not coming back online, from remote, after applying an update is a potential for some frustration.) So, for me, that's the biggest thing I'm looking forward to. I don't need 3D in a VM or anything like that. I do make use of a lot of VMs but that's just to play with various operating systems and I use VMware and don't game.
Hopefully it works well. I haven't really noticed a whole lot of people talking about it in the various groups. I'm actually kind of excited (as odd as it might sound) to have that feature. Maybe I'm expecting too much or it's not what I think it is? I dunno - it looks like, from my reading, you described it - patching to a new version while the system is live and the kernel is loaded in memory. Seems straight forward enough. Maybe I'm just excited about odd things... *shrugs* I'll make sure that I sit and watch it when it happens the first line it goes from 4.4 to 4.4.x. I'm also probably too easily amused.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."