Subject: Re: Experimental kernel
From: Dan Burcaw (dburcaw@terraplex.com)
Date: Sun Oct 10 1999 - 23:22:22 MDT
> It's not really a developmental kernel -- it's suppose to be a stable kernel
> designed for everyday use (as the 2.2.x number designates). By getting a
> 2.2.x version number it's saying that everything in this kernel is robust
> and stable and ready for production type work (of course sometimes it
> doesn't always work that way -- but...)
Indeed, but given minimal instructions, I don't want everyone upgrading to
this, yet.
> Also, 2.2.12 seems to have been around for at least a month (I believe) so
> it's fairly well proven as a stable kernel, no major flaws have yet to be
> discovered.
>
> If we were talking about using a beta kernel like 2.3.20, that would be
> another thing, since that is a risk since some of the drivers / code have
> not been fully tested.
>
> > At the moment it is not an official part of the distribution and is
> > technically "experimental".
>
> It's not really experimental. It's an easy upgrade (if you have ever
> compiled a kernel before), and should cause no problems at all for you,
> since only a few minor changes have been made in the kernel recently.
> (Although there are some changes a bit more major then should be, IMHO, but
> since I am not a kernel devel I won't comment on that).
More then anything, it's the UUSBD vs. linus USB stack that causes upgrade
headaches. Hence, before everyone upgrades I need to update some of the
tools (mouseconfig, etc) so they can upgrade without problems.
> > Therefore most of the details are not entirely relevant to the "general" user.
>
> I think they are. They are regular upgrade, that most users should consider
> upgrading to, if they need the security updates or newer drivers. Not
> everybody needs to upgrade, but that's true with virtually anything. I know
> people that a still using 2.0.38 on the x86 arch (including my ISP), and
> 2.1.124 on the PowerPC (the PowerPC old stable kernel).
>
> On my machine I am still running a kernel 2.2.6, that I compiled sometime in
> May '99 -- since it works fine, and I don't really need the security patches
> or driver updates.
>
> > Furthermore, a number of the immediate fixes and suggestions will likely
> > become obsolete by the time the kernel is official.
>
> The kernel is official now. Both PowerPC Linux kernel developers, general
> Linux kernel developers and Linus have certified this kernel stable and
> offical so you should be okay to use it.
See above.
> > possibly making the general archive somewhat confusing when people search it
> > at a later date.
>
> Time does that to everything. Look at the PowerPC Linux Fact-O-Matic,
> despite many people attempts to remove outdated confusing information from
> it, still some exists.
Arthur is right, it has been out for some time.. but as USB keyboard and
mice are handled differently, I need to prepate some instructions and
tools before people rush to upgrade. You can upgrade now, but I released
this kernel for those people that can't wait and want to help testing and
reporting on things like what USB devices work so we have a list of "what
works" with the "official" upgrade.
Regards,
Dan
Terra Soft Solutions, Inc.
Yellow Dog Linux
"The Ultimate Companion for a Dedicated Server"
http://www.yellowdoglinux.com/
This archive was generated by hypermail 2a24 : Tue Nov 02 1999 - 16:20:57 MST