COMPETENT OBSERVERS of the Linux kernel development process have reported what we can expect in the next production releases of Linux.
An explanatory summary that should be accessible for most people in the IT industry is available here, by Joseph Pranevich, and a rather more concise overview for the core minimalists and more technically inclined audience among us is available here, by Dave Jones.
Neither of these writers has gone out of their way to extol the virtues of the changes that will appear in the next version of the Linux kernel, but even a casual read makes it clear that big advances will show up. Improvements in Linux 2.6 will benefit platforms ranging from embedded, near real-time devices to very large multi-CPU SMP and HPC systems, all using the same Linux kernel running on multiple system architectures.
Here are the headings in Joe Pranevich's excellent and detailed summary entitled "The Wonderful World of Linux 2.6":
The Story So Far...
Multiple Platform Support
Scaling Down -- Linux for Embedded Systems
Opteron Support - 64-bit Linux for the Consumer
Subarchitecture Support
Scaling Up -- NUMA and Bigger Iron
Linux Internals
Hyperthreading
Size Matters -- Scalability Improvements
Kernel Interactivity and Responsiveness
Module Subsystem - Device Drivers
Other Improvements
Unified Device Model
Kernel Object Abstraction
The System Filesystem
Core Hardware Support
Internal Device Busses
External Device Busses
Wireless Devices
Block Device Support
Storage Busses
Filesystems
Input / Output Devices
Human Interface Devices
Audio
Multimedia
Software Improvements
Networking
Network Filesystems
Miscellaneous Features
Security
Virtualizing Linux
Laptops
Legacy Support
Stuff At The Bottom....
It's impossible to emphasize a single area of Linux advances, since all of these are likely to be important to someone. However, it is perhaps worth noting that several major functions of the Linux kernel have been completely rewritten. In fact, it's almost all revised. Quite a list!
You'll have to read the articles linked to see if something you'll care deeply about is being changed. But if you're using Linux and you haven't been involved in writing the 2.5 development kernel, now might be a good time to get involved with wringing out pre-production Linux 2.6 kernel code -- if only to find out whether it runs well on your platforms and works well with your applications, and possibly provide feedback to the kernel development team if you find any bugs, so they will get fixed.
The competition took about ten years to produce Windows Server 2003, but it's still insecure (as evidenced by the recent exploits discovered) and still pointy-clicky, to put it nicely. In contrast, Linux appears to be on track with massive revisions and significant advances to be delivered to all of us within about another six months or so, when it's ready.
The Inquirer
An explanatory summary that should be accessible for most people in the IT industry is available here, by Joseph Pranevich, and a rather more concise overview for the core minimalists and more technically inclined audience among us is available here, by Dave Jones.
Neither of these writers has gone out of their way to extol the virtues of the changes that will appear in the next version of the Linux kernel, but even a casual read makes it clear that big advances will show up. Improvements in Linux 2.6 will benefit platforms ranging from embedded, near real-time devices to very large multi-CPU SMP and HPC systems, all using the same Linux kernel running on multiple system architectures.
Here are the headings in Joe Pranevich's excellent and detailed summary entitled "The Wonderful World of Linux 2.6":
The Story So Far...
Multiple Platform Support
Scaling Down -- Linux for Embedded Systems
Opteron Support - 64-bit Linux for the Consumer
Subarchitecture Support
Scaling Up -- NUMA and Bigger Iron
Linux Internals
Hyperthreading
Size Matters -- Scalability Improvements
Kernel Interactivity and Responsiveness
Module Subsystem - Device Drivers
Other Improvements
Unified Device Model
Kernel Object Abstraction
The System Filesystem
Core Hardware Support
Internal Device Busses
External Device Busses
Wireless Devices
Block Device Support
Storage Busses
Filesystems
Input / Output Devices
Human Interface Devices
Audio
Multimedia
Software Improvements
Networking
Network Filesystems
Miscellaneous Features
Security
Virtualizing Linux
Laptops
Legacy Support
Stuff At The Bottom....
It's impossible to emphasize a single area of Linux advances, since all of these are likely to be important to someone. However, it is perhaps worth noting that several major functions of the Linux kernel have been completely rewritten. In fact, it's almost all revised. Quite a list!
You'll have to read the articles linked to see if something you'll care deeply about is being changed. But if you're using Linux and you haven't been involved in writing the 2.5 development kernel, now might be a good time to get involved with wringing out pre-production Linux 2.6 kernel code -- if only to find out whether it runs well on your platforms and works well with your applications, and possibly provide feedback to the kernel development team if you find any bugs, so they will get fixed.
The competition took about ten years to produce Windows Server 2003, but it's still insecure (as evidenced by the recent exploits discovered) and still pointy-clicky, to put it nicely. In contrast, Linux appears to be on track with massive revisions and significant advances to be delivered to all of us within about another six months or so, when it's ready.
The Inquirer
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