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Linux Kernel 2.2.0 Press Release Draft
L2000 writes "Here
is the draft of the press
release for the upcoming linux kernel 2.2.0. It seems
like we might get the offical 2.2 kernel before the end of
this month." We're getting closer to the big day.
And there shall be great rejoicing throughout the land.
/dons asbestos suit/
I'd like to see some mention along the lines of "the kernel, along with a myriad of other programs, comprises a complete computer system."
The press release makes it sound like the kernel *is* the system. To quote: "Linux is a secure network operating system"
The GNU project is very briefly mentioned in the Links section. Hardly enough recognition IMHO.
Linus and Co. have been doing a wonderful job with 2.2.0. I've been running the pre kernels religously, and have not experienced any crashes or unstable behaviour.
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Your honor is perfectly understandishable.
Yeah! Go Nortel!
They give jobs to my friends.
-- Erich
Slashdot reader since 1997
It doesn't need eloquence and wit. I'd settle for a simple announcement that had everything spelled correctly. One that didn't erroneously call the Linux kernel a "secure network operating system" would be nice as well.
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
There are a fair number of typos which, for a major announcement, is not acceptable.
I quite like the fact that they quote Microsoft; that's quite entertaining. Unfortunately, that may need to "not make the final cut," as the statement wasn't volunteered for public use by any means...
Posted by Matt Borowski:
The press release itself is rather long, and should concentrate more on Linux 2.2 kernel features than general features of the Linux OS and X Window.
They also need to remove "Linux Online" (www.linux.org) from the list of URLs at the bottom of the article! That site is evil. =)
It's a little sad how many people here seem to want to use the 2.2 release (or the accompanying (?) press release) to push your own particular politics. "Mention GNU more!" "Don't link to linux.org!" etc.
I personally don't think a 'press release' is in order, and seeing something so obviously directed at marketroids is painful. Let RedHat and their ilk handle that, I'd rather see a nice detailed Documentation/Changes file from the kernel team...
I have done no kernel coding, so it's not that important to me and my opinion is meaningless, but do we really want to be inching and creeping towards "hey! zdnet! look what we can do now!"?
Posted by posterkid:
And Unix98 PTYs, and the beginnings of Quality-of-Service routing scheduling, fbcon, other REAL improvements. Not a fuckin' "tradition of y2k readiness". *spit*
Agreed. Thankfully there's only been one bug that has bit me hard so far, screwy swap cache causing a reboot when converting an mp3 to a cdr format. Haven't tried it with pre8 yet, though....
2.2 must not be rushed. Fuck the 'pundits', fuck their expectations, fuck their FUD. We've always been about quality.
(b) the idea is to announce, and get as many as possible interested in using/trying Linux. Education in the culture, institutions, and icons of the free software universe will inevitably follow once they're hooked [nyah-ha-ha!].
Yeah, GNU gets only brief mention, like XFree and Samba and all the other pieces that make Linux the richest OS on the planet. But that's OK; I'm sure Richard will get another dozen or so interviews when the final release comes; he's too picturesque a character for the press to ignore....
Craig
Looks like I wrote a rough draft and never cared to edit it.
High end SMP support scales well, supporting up to 64-bit processor systems. That combination makes no sense. Looks on first sight like a type, and linux supports 64 SMP processors. If it really means support for 64 bit processors (wasn't that in 2.0.0?) then seperate it out.
What I find works well when editing my own stuff is to read the entire thing backwards (backwords thing entire the read to is to stuff own my editing when well works find I when) However it is not easy and I wouldn't do that much work for something that isn't important. If this is to ever be officail it deserves every trick in the book, even if you reject the results of the trick.
Interesting, to say the least. heh.
If you can read this message, your threshold is too low.
I'm not sure calling this "the" press release for linux 2.2.0 is accurate; it's really more of a proposal for a press release that's been tossed around on linux-kernel for a while. As far as I can tell, it hasn't been officially blessed by Linus at all.
I could be wrong about that, though.
Aside from the verbosenes of the press release, why is LinuxPPC not listed in the Distributions?
Aleks
It's the right analogy. Of course it's interchangable - Linux wasn't the perfect solution either, NT provides some stuff that Linux doesn't and Linux provides some stuff NT doesn't (most notably - stability).
Matt.
--
Matt. Want XML + Apache + Stylesheets? Get AxKit.
Why would a kernel have I18n support? Or is that just food for the PHB's?
Is it just me that thinks the kernel is getting way too bloated now, and some stuff could easily move out of the kernel (video4linux doesn't strike me as something that should be at the kernel level).
Matt.
--
Matt. Want XML + Apache + Stylesheets? Get AxKit.
After a brief search through Dejanews... I found a link to Linus's 2.0 kernel release post. You can find it at http://x1.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=159433479&CONT EXT=916865358.1854734395&hitnum=3 assuming Slashdot doesn't munge the URL. Btw, I couldn't put that URL in an HREF in this comment submit box.
My personal opinion is that we should leave marketing pitches to the corporations who care and press releases are nothing but marketing.
I spotted that "vender" should be "vendor".
According to my copy of Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, "vender" is an alternative spelling to "vendor".
Though I agree it looks very out of place-- that happens with most words when you substitude e --> o.
I guess with the 2.2.0 kernel so close to release, that RH is probably driving Raster and those Gnome boys like slave drivers. I am sure they are hoping for a Gnome 1.0 and an E 15 to release with it. Not to mention that they would like to be the first distro to be out the door. Picture it:
Red Hat Software Releases Red Hat Linux 6.0 and Application CD!
The release of Red Hat Linux 6.0 uses the latest 2.2.0 kernel which is the greatest thing since slice bread! Also included in this gift from the gods is the long anticipated Release 15 of Enlightenment, the most powerful, configurable, beautiful, Window Manager. And if that wasn't enough, we are proud to be the first distribution to include Gnome 1.0, the ultimate desktop environment.
Its spelt "L-I-N-U-X", but pronunced as "Free Beer"
I have forked the draft press release, in order to get rid of some of the unnecessary, redundant, or simply wrong information contained in the other one. I am not on the kernel mailing list, so if anyone finds this interesting, please forward it there for discussion.
/dev/null.
In the end of the day, I expect these will all be cannibalized when Linus produces his own official release. Everyone should remember that whatever press release becomes official, it has to have Linus' blessing or it has no credibility.
Please feel free to contact krose@theory.lcs.mit.edu for information or suggestions about this draft. It is meant for discussion purposes only and is not meant to masquerade as an "official" release, so a$$holes can redirect their flames to
Kyle Rose
MIT LCS
**** DRAFT **** PRESS RELEASE - LINUX KERNEL 2.2.0 **** DRAFT ****
**** FORK 1
Linux kernel version 2.2.0 released
Contact: Somebody
Office: Somewhere
Email: Something@Somedomain.SomeTopLevel
SANTA CLARA, C.A. -- The Linux kernel development team has officially
announced the release of a new version of the Linux kernel. This
update brings advanced scalability and broad support for newer
hardware, while maintaining the stability and reliability that have
been traditional hallmarks of the Linux kernel.
Among the new features of the 2.2.0 kernel are **BLAH** [Something
needs to be added here that doesn't sound like Microsoft doublespeak.]
Advanced technical users are already using this update, available from
the Linux Kernel Archive (http://www.kernel.org/). Linux system
vendors will begin shipping systems using the new kernel in
March. Business users will be able to obtain the update from their
Linux distribution vendor. As always, the Linux kernel is distributed
under the terms of the GNU General Public License, available for
perusal at the web site of the Free Software Foundation
(http://www.fsf.org/).
BACKGROUND -- "Linux" is the common name for a series of operating
system distributions based primarily on the Linux kernel and software
from the Free Software Foundation's GNU Project. Linux is available
for most popular computer architectures, including but not limited to
x86, Alpha, PowerPC, MIPS, and Sparc.
Since the Linux kernel was created in 1991 by then Finnish university
student Linus Torvalds, Linux has grown to an installed base estimated
at more than 20 million users worldwide. With its 212% growth rate in
1998, it is the fastest growing server operating system. Among its
advantages attracting new users are:
* Its open development model, which enables any user to modify the
operating system components and submit patches to the official
distribution. This both facilitates the development of new
features and enables users to repair problems within hours after
they have been located. [This is very awkward. It needs work in
delineating the concept I have brought out here.]
* Its usability. Linux has both advanced graphical user interfaces
in GNOME and KDE and a flexible command line, enabling power users
and novices alike to work in a comfortable environment. [I'm not
quite sure this is what I'm trying to say.]
* Its stability and reliability. Linux machines have been known to
run for years without rebooting, and in most cases, only kernel
replacements -- not application installations -- necessitate such
action.
* Its maturity. Linux is modelled after UNIX, an operating system
that has proven stability through nearly thirty years of research
and development.
Microsoft engineers Josh Cohen and Vinod Valloppillil, in a
competitive examination of Linux (Halloween Document,
http://www.opensource.org/halloween.html), write that "Linux
represents a best-of-breed UNIX, that is trusted on mission critical
applications, and - due to its open source code - has a long term
credibility which excedes many other competitive operating systems."
For additional information about Linux, the Free Software Foundation,
the GNU Project, or related software, please refer to the URLs listed
below.
[Trademark information goes here. I'm not sure what needs to be
listed.]
[URLs can go here. Keep it brief.]
[ home ]
Hi,
/., see it as a wider proofreading audience. As long as people give sensible comments on it (and I don't mean stuff like 'this doesn't belong here', 'this should not have come out yet'), it can only help on improving the press release.
read the following:
Already legendary Linux performance is significantly enhanced. High end SMP
support scales well, supporting up to 64-bit processor systems.
What has SMP-scalability to do with 64-bit processors?
and:
Projects such as GNOME (GNU Network Orientated Model Environment), KDE (K
Desktop Environment), and Enlightenment all take advantage of the Linux
kernel, and allow users to completely customize their Graphical User Interface
(GUI). This makes for quick and easy interaction with hardware and software
through desktop icons, menus, and keyboard shortcuts.
These have nothing to do with the Linux kernel. In fact, both GNOME and KDE run on a myriad of platforms.
About publishing stuff like this on
Maarten
Maarten Boekhold
It should be up to GNU to announce when it upgrades its binutils, &ct. The fact that some (ok, all) distributions use GNU utilities with their releases doesn't mean Linux has to say that they are the one-and-only way of runnning a Linux kernel.
As well, for most people OS==kernel, and since this is a public announcement...
Twas interesting to note the likely March release date for distributions (which I assume includes RedHat etc)...
The LinuxPPC folks are as close if not a smidge ahead from what I can tell on getting things 2.2.0 ready for both online release and CD release....
wake up, this is about the KERNEL. the GNU project do a lot of things that Linux (or GNU/Linux if you want) uses, but not the kernel. In fact, they make their own, called the Hurd. And Debian is going to support it one of these days.
I'd dearly love to see FireWire working on Linux.
:-)
Is video capture really supported?
I'd use it if it was.
D
This document is much too detailed for your average press release. Although it's factually accurate, press releases should simply be announcements, not sales pitches.
:)
This is all IMHO, of course
Wow, crazy anonymous coward declares it should be removed. While I agree this isn't anywhere close to news, as it's just a link to the work in progress of the press release and that it's no way official at all. But maybe if you ASK, instead of commanding? maybe?
-matt
From what I understand it's the complete opposite for most people. I run it on a 486dx2/66 w/ 20megs of ram and it's really fast, of cource there are 3 computers on my network and the 486 is one of them. NT, however, wouldn't come close to running on that box.
-matt
If the PR is completely bogus, as you say, that just makes it more interesting to talk about.
Don't go telling people what they can't talk about.
I guess this means I have to start work on the Linux/m68k 2.2 announcement then...
My Blog. Sela Ward can sell me long distanc
From what I've read and been told on the Beowulf mailing list, the distribution doesn't operate in the way the PR implies. A Beowulf system runs as one big machine *only* insofar as processors go and *only* for explicitly multithreaded applications. E.g. 20x80MB HD != 1600MB--you have to deal w/each drive individually. (One might try setting up a RAID first, but I haven't heard anything about this being attempted.)
Finally, I agree that the document needs to be pared *way* down before it's sent out. A PR needs to be short and succint; they can provide info for where people can go for more details.
This sound like a true press moron. He makes linux sound like a Sony Playstation. I hope linus reads this press release. He probably wont say anything to the writer but somebody should.
Let linus write the real press release.
Its supposed to be directed at us not the wanta-be's who hang out at CompUSA or Best-Buy
I have a few questions:
Since when did Linux become a 'network operating system'? I know it has supported networking from early on, but saying it is a 'network' os may be too misleading for a press release.
Also, I thought Linus started Linux as a project to learn more about his 386 and to create a minix clone, not 'after becoming disillusioned with the poor quality of commercial alternatives'.
L8R!
David
If not embarassing, it sounds at least too bullying. At least I am embarrassed when I read it.