Linux kernel 2.4.17 released, Dec 22, 2001

Well,

Here it is...

I just made a 2.5.1, but I'm still concentrating on bio stuff, so don't bother sending me other patches unless they are serious bug-fixes to something else.

2.5.1 is hopefully a good interim stage - many block drivers should work fine, but many more do not. However, the pre-patches were getting largish, so I'd rather do a 2.5.1 than wait for all the details.

As to other stuff - note the separation of drivers for new and old tulip chips: if you have an old 2104x tulip chip (as opposed to the newer 2114x chips) the regular tulip driver doesn't work any more for you. Don't be surprised, select CONFIG_DE2104X. Linus

There is a bug in latest 2.4 kernel version - also known as 2.5.0 - that supposedly corrupts filesystems. from the kernel mailing list

2.4.15 eats files. DON'T USE IT.

Two days ago the next version of the Linux kernel, v2.5, was quietly born over at kernel.org. At the moment (or possibly, given the way Linux develops, at that moment) the move is/was a purely administrative one, but it means that the 2.5 kernel will now be developed as a separate entity from 2.4.

Two days ago the next version of the Linux kernel, v2.5, was quietly born over at kernel.org. At the moment (or possibly, given the way Linux develops, at that moment) the move is/was a purely administrative one, but it means that the 2.5 kernel will now be developed as a separate entity from 2.4.

As the Linux community waits with baited breath for Linus Torvalds to begin work on the 2.5 kernel tree, charge of the stable 2.4 kernel has been handed to an 18-year-old developer.

Torvalds' right-hand man, Alan Cox, recently announced that Marcelo Tosatti, an open source developer from Brazil, will be taking over development of the stable 2.4 kernel.

Marcelo Tosatti, 18 years of age and a developer at Conectiva, was chosen by Linus Torvalds and Alan Cox to be the new maintainer of the Linux kernel. Beginning at the end of November, he well occupy this position in place of Cox, the current maintainer.

Last week, Linux creator Linus Torvalds and Linux developer Alan Cox told eWEEK that they will both embrace a new Virtual Memory manager and implement it in forthcoming iterations of the operating system. Cox has, until now, continued to use the existing VM in the version of the 2.4 kernel he maintains.

link to changelog

A proper 2.2.20 summary as opposed to the changelog will follow probably Monday.

Linus himself said in a recent kernel list mailing that he wasn't happy yet with the VM. These problems were enough for many Linux shops to resist the migration to the 2.4 kernels and instead continue using the 2.2.19 kind of kernels. Obviously, compared to 2.4., the 2.2. series has many shortcomings ? like no zero-copy networking, the division of page cache and buffer-cache in filesystem operations, big spinlocks (serializations of kernel execution paths for computers with more than one CPU) for many parts of the kernel, and so on.

Linux founder and head programmer Linus Torvalds has released a quick fix to the new version 2.4.11 of the heart, or kernel, of Linux. The revised kernel fixes a problem related to how Linux handles files that are links to other files--which could cause problems to the installer software from Linux seller SuSE, Torvalds said. He said he had only one report of an actual problem.

Latest stable kernel release

Last week, Linux creator Linus Torvalds and Linux developer Alan Cox told eWEEK that they will both embrace a new Virtual Memory manager and implement it in forthcoming iterations of the operating system. Cox has, until now, continued to use the existing VM in the version of the 2.4 kernel he maintains.

The Open Source Development Lab has created a code benchmarking tool--known as the Scalable Test Platform--that it says will allow developers to easily test their Linux kernel patches from a variety of tests and server configurations.

Tim Witham, the director of the OSDL--an independent, non-profit lab designed for developers who are adding enterprise capabilities to Linux--believes the STP fulfills a critical need in the open-source developer community.

Version 2.4.10, which fixes 'major' bugs in the 2.4 Linux kernel, is now available for download A new kernel for the Linux operating system has been released to developers, fixing some major bugs in the Linux 2.4.10. Kernel 2.4.10 was released on Sunday, and is available from a number of sites around the Web including www.kernel.org.

It was 10 years ago this month that a 21-year-old Linus Torvalds sent an e-mail to the open-source software community saying an experimental version of the Linux kernel, the core technology that would end up embodied in Linux operating systems, was up and running.

"I'm doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won't be big and professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones," Torvalds wrote in an e-mail to a discussion group that focused on the Unix variant Minix. "This has been brewing since April, and is starting to get ready."

NeTraverse Inc., the leading provider of software solutions enabling Windows application hosting on the Linux operating system, announced today a relationship with Red Hat the leading providero f Linux and open source solutions, to support NeTraverse modifications to the Linux kernel.

The vulnerability occurs in the so-called "initial sequence numbers," or ISN, computers use to reconstruct data sent over the Internet back into the original file.

According to the analysis completed by BindView, operating systems such as the Linux 2.2 kernel and the most recent version of OpenBSD create strong ISNs, while operating systems such as Windows 95, Windows 98, older versions of Windows NT, AIX and HPUX have relatively weak procedures for generating ISNs.

Mandrake has finished version 8 of its edition of Linux, the first from the company to incorporate the new 2.4 version of the kernel, or heart, of the operating system. Though the new version currently is available only for download, retail stores will begin selling it in mid-May, the company announced.

Linux Online reviewed Linux-Mandrake. Read about it here.

Red Hat, Inc. this week announced the release of Red Hat Linux 7.1, the latest update to the ever popular Linux distribution featuring Kernel version 2.4. Release 7.1 includes the Network Software Manager, a tool that notifies users of important package updates and errata.

Red Hat Inc. has introduced Linux 7.1, which incorporates the latest version of the Linux kernel and improved enterprise functionality.

The new version, available April 24, also includes configuration tools designed to make it easier to set up and administer DNS, Web, and print servers and other network connectivity functionality.

The Linux development community is committed to shortening the development cycle for the next major kernel release, but so far it hasn't come up with any timetables. The two-year development cycle for the 2.4 kernel, which was released in January, "was just too long," said Ted Ts'o, a core Linux developer and principal engineer at VA Linux Systems

Linus Torvalds and 60 of his closet friends met this past weekend to map out development plans for the Linux kernel 2.5. At the invitation-only summit in San Jose, California, the kernel hackers privately discussed what features they'd like to see in the next version of the open-source operating system's core.

The next version of the Linux kernel, due sometime in mid-to-late 2002, will offer improved support for enterprise, mobile and Internet use, said Ted Ts'o, Linux kernel developer and principal engineer at VA Linux Systems

...it was time to gather the good stuff into a general release. Time, too, to update the kernel and make it fully multithreaded and enhance support for firewalls and other kinds of security.

Linux 2.4 is all that and more. It has better support for USB, 1394, and it's even ready for Bluetooth. PC Magazine's review has lots more information on the enhancements.

Joe Barr: "I've wanted to interview Linus Torvalds for some time, but with the holiday season, his new baby, and the release of 2.4 already on his plate, I knew my chances were slim at best. Timing is everything, it seems. Now that things are somewhat back to "normal," whatever that is, I tried a direct approach and appealed to his finer instincts. I've owed him a beer for almost 2 years now, so I offered him a case of Guinness in exchange for an interview. It worked."

SOT, the publisher of Best Linux, is going to release the Best Linux T-1/2001 version next week. The new release contains the brand new kernel 2.4.1 released yesterday and KDE 2.1 version. This release is part of SOT's T-1 beta testing program having over 3400 registered beta testers globally. The English beta version is called Best Linux T-1/2001. SOT will start shipping the CD-ROMs free-of-charge to registered beta testers next week. A ready-to-burn ISO image will be also available for those who don't want to wait for snail mail, or have not registered to the program. The last T-1 beta program was a global success last year with over 3,200 beta testers.

The keepers of the Linux operating system have made improvements to the core technology that should make it easier to find lost data.

The biggest addition to the release of Linux kernel 2.4.1 is the ReiserFS, which is a journaling file system. Journaling file systems are key to operating systems and applications used over extended corporate networks because they allow administrators to more quickly recover data in the event of system failure.

Linus Torvalds, the inventor, lead developer, and so-called guardian of the Linux kernel, sheds light on the release of Linux 2.4, the operating system's future, and his role as guru-in-charge of Linux.

On February 8th, SuSE Linux will be one of the first companies to put the new 2.4.0 Linux kernel to use. Version 7.1 of SuSE Linux brings the new kernel along with glibc 2.2 and KDE 2.0.1 to add features and options never available before.

The big things that Linux brings, regardless of version, is the fact that you can tailor it to your needs, you're not bound by any particular vendor, and you can rest safe in the knowledge that there are no backdoors, etc. For those big kinds of things, the new release doesn't matter one whit.

In a short e-mail sent at 4:01 PST, Friday, January 5, Torvalds said version 2.4.0 of the system is "out there."

The much-anticipated next version of the core of the Linux operating system is ready at last.

Linux software creator Linus Torvalds Thursday issued a major new version of his software alternative to Windows and Unix that aims to make Linux easier to use while boosting its capacity to run big business computer systems.

Occasionally the question of who is in charge of Linux comes up. This is usually in the context of "who would take over" if Linux-creator Linus Torvalds ever steps down.

Linus Torvalds, the 'father' of the Linux operating system, sent testers and developers a 2.4 prerelease kernel over the weekend

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