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Kernel 2.4.14 is out 402

Posted by chrisd from the 14-and-counting dept.
MrSnivvel writes: "The new 2.4.14 kernel is out for the taking." It's in all the usual mirrors. Check out the ChangeLog and revel in the newness..
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Kernel 2.4.14 is out More

Kernel 2.4.14 is out

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  • Isn't this supposed to be the last Linus kernel in the 2.4 series?

    • Re:Last Linus 2.4 kernel (Score:5, Informative)

      by worldwideweber ( 116531 ) on Monday November 05, 2001 @07:28PM (#2525428) Homepage Journal
      From: Linus Torvalds
      CC: Kernel Mailing List

      On 31 Oct 2001, Michael Peddemors wrote:
      >
      > Lets' let this testing cycle go a little longer before making any
      > changes.. Let developers catch up..

      My not-so-cunning plan is actually to try to figure out the big problems
      now, then release a reasonable 2.4.14, and then just stop for a while,
      refusing to take new features.

      Then, 2.4.15 would be the point where I start 2.5.x, and where Alan gets
      to do whatever he wants to do with 2.4.x. Including, of course, just
      reverting all my and Andrea's VM changes ;)

      I'm personally convinced that my tree does the right thing VM-wise, but
      Alan _will_ be the maintainer, and I'm not going to butt in on his
      decisions. The last thing I want to be is a micromanaging pointy-haired
      boss.

      (2.5.x will obviously use the new VM regardless, and I actually believe
      that the new VM simply is better. I think that Alan will see the light
      eventually, but at the same time I clearly admit that Alan was right on a
      stability front for the last month or two ;)

      > My own kernel patches I had to stop because I couldn't keep up .... Can
      > we go a full month with you just hitting us over the head with a bat
      > yelling 'test, dammit, test', until this is tested fully before
      > releasing another production release?

      I think we're really close.

      [ I'd actually like to thank Gary Sandine from laclinux.com who made the
      "Ultimate Linux Box" for an article by Eric Raymond for Linux Journal.
      They sent me one too, and the 2GB box made it easier to test some real
      highmem loads. This has given me additional load environments to test,
      and made me able to see some of the problems people reported.. ]

      But I do want to make a real 2.4.14, not just another "final" pre-kernel,
      and let that be the base for a reasonably orderly switch-over at 2.4.15
      (ie I'd still release 2.4.15, everything from then on is Alan).

      Linus

    • Version niceness (Score:5, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 05, 2001 @07:30PM (#2525439)
      The 2.4 kernel will be complete only when it reaches the "Version Niceness" factor, that is version 2.4.24.
      • No, I think you're missing the point. "Version Niceness" can't have seemingly arbitrary numbers in it - that's why Microsoft ditched their scheme after Windows 3.1.

        I think that 2.4.XP is a much nicer version number.
        • Actually WinXP is just another name for Windows version 5.1.2600

          5.1.2600 just doesn't have the same ring to it as XP though... I think the 2600 is the build number...

          I wonder what build number Linux would be if it incremented everytime Linux make a kernel change.
          • 5.1.2600

            So Microsoft is now in league with those phreaking 2600 guys? I always knew....

            2600 is for 2600 kHz, the carrier wave for the sounds that payphones used to signal the home office that someone dropped in a shekel or the call. All the kool kids had electronics that could make that tone and bingo, free calls. Was called phreaking at one time. Now the kids on to bigger and better things, like finding holes in telnetd.

  • Changelog? (Score:2, Funny)

    by atrowe ( 209484 )
    Does anyone have a link to the changelog? I'm interested to see if they've fixed any of the bugs present in 2.4.11a and previous.

    I'd also be interested to know if they've fixed the Integer floating poing RAND bug that can occur on some older MMX Athlons. I've got a friend who has one of the affected processors, and he's been dying to upgrade, but can't because his tarball segfaults on compile.

    Also, what's the status of that TCP/IP stack optimization that Theo De Raadt has been working on? Has this been incorporated into the new kernel? I'm getting sick of compiling my winipcfg.dll file every time I install a new kernel. Hopefully the new winmodem streaming support will take care of this problem. It shouldn't have taken as long as it already has, considering DeRaadt switched from C to VisualBasic for his new code. Any info would be helpful...

  • The last pre seems to be OK, but Linus is still "working" on that. Did anyone know that the VM bugs are fixed? I don't see that in the change logs after pre8...

  • That's nice, but its not really news... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Nailer ( 69468 ) on Monday November 05, 2001 @07:25PM (#2525415)
    There's so many interesting userspace apps slashdot could write about. Unless the kernel has some new feature or fixes a major secutiy hole, I personally don't see how interesting each minor release is. Slashdot isn't freshmeat.

    If /. is going to write about apps, why not focus on the new and clever ones - like
    * MPlayer allowing us to play WMVs under out OS of choice
    * Xine, finally maturing into a solid high quality DVD player
    * Partimage providng a useful and open source disk imaging system
    * Ximian's setup tools beta making an X config tool that doesn't suck

    OI don't have anything against the kernel, but we all know there's always goiung to be a new kernel every couple of weeks. There's so many interesting userspace Open Source projects we could be hearing about.

    After all, isn't the point of an OS to run *apps*?

    • Re:That's nice, but its not really news... (Score:4, Flamebait)

      by garcia ( 6573 ) on Monday November 05, 2001 @08:07PM (#2525595)
      I don't read freshmeat. I search for things there. It isn't something I really care to see everyday.

      I don't subscribe to the kernel announce list. I don't care to read a bunch of garbage everday.

      A new kernel may not be news for everyone but it is certainly news for nerds.

      If they tell us when the release of XP is, or when the release of a new variant of Code Red or the like is out, why not the kernel.

      Sorry but I feel that the latest kernel is quite acceptable to be shown on /.

      If you don't, tough. It obviously is going to stay no matter how many of you comment on it (remember, we have seen these posts before).

      I like it.

      • Re:That's nice, but its not really news... (Score:4, Informative)

        by cvincent ( 99204 ) on Monday November 05, 2001 @10:00PM (#2525946) Homepage
        I don't read freshmeat. I search for things there. It isn't something I really care to see everyday.

        you dont have to, you can subscribe to the linux kernel entry on freshmeat and recieve an email when a new version is out.

        I don't subscribe to the kernel announce list. I don't care to read a bunch of garbage everday.

        so release information is not garbage when its on slashdot but it is garbage when it comes from the actual source?

        If they tell us when the release of XP is, or when the release of a new variant of Code Red or the like is out, why not the kernel.

        Then by this very logic, CNN should be running stories on the latest Linux kernel release? XP is a bit different from 2.4.13 to 2.4.14 and Code Red made quite an impact on the Internet.

        If you don't, tough. It obviously is going to stay no matter how many of you comment on it

        That may be so, but dont expect the opposite and rely on slashdot to only run the stories you want. I bet if slashdot wasnt running stories on kernel updates that stories would still be submitted every release.

        • That may be so, but dont expect the opposite and rely on slashdot to only run the stories you want. I bet if slashdot wasnt running stories on kernel updates that stories would still be submitted every release.


          CmdrTaco has stated on many occasions and in many interviews that the news that gets posted to slashdot is only that which interests him. Nobody else. Except maybe the other staff at /.. And it's not going to change no matter how much bitching goes on.
    • Unless the kernel has some new feature or fixes a major secutiy hole, I personally don't see how interesting each minor release is.

      Well, the 2.4.x series has been marred by some serious and not-yet-entirely resolved virtual memory flaws that can cripple some mission-critical server applications. I'm not sure that qualifies as security hole, unless you consider that it makes DOS attacks easier, but it is a major performance problem. Until a final fix is in, every release in this branch is news.

      • I think you're overstating the case a bit. Linux accepted the new VM but so far reports have been pretty good. Yes, there have been some problems, but weren't we having problems with Rik's VM as well?

        Linus' philosophy is usually to stick with a simple system a programmer can fully understand. Neat tricks sometimes give better performance, but simple systems are robust and tunable. Selecting right now to add the patch rather than forking off 2.5 and then backporting it doesn't seem very wise to me, but even Linus can make a mistake.
    • Unless the kernel has some new feature or fixes a major secutiy hole, I personally don't see how interesting each minor release is. Slashdot isn't freshmeat.

      How about publishing all the news covering software releases (including kernel releases) under new topic called "software releases" and people like you can opt-out in preferences. Others, including me, can read about these from /. because we don't read both slashdot and freshmeat.

    • While I do enjoy all the kernel updates on slashdot, I think slashdot should also write about some of the great userspace apps as well.

      All those apps you listed are most definately news for nerds, and they really are stuff that matters, specifically for Linux.

      Anyone who hasn't tried out those apps, give em a whirl! Specifically, for me, mplayer is absolutely great. It is hands down the best video player for linux.

      So, while freshmeat lists everything, why not list the important things on slashdot? I just think that would be so useful.

  • incorrect mirrors link (Score:4, Informative)

    by fonebone ( 192290 ) <jessephrenic@nOspAm.ninjaguy.org> on Monday November 05, 2001 @07:28PM (#2525423) Homepage
    I think they meant to link to this [kernel.org] url.
  • It looks like there were many fixes to the VM, which is good news. Hopefully this is the one we can all be happy with (well that will never happen, but at least be content for a bit) and let the Linux team move on to 2.5. The VM talk has seemed to calm down a bit on the LKML. [zork.net]

  • release often (Score:4, Funny)

    by archen ( 447353 ) on Monday November 05, 2001 @07:34PM (#2525460)
    you know, at the rate these updates are comming, they're going to run out of numbers, and they'll have to start calling them 'service packs'...
    • Well, if you think this is fast wait for 2.5.x to start. it's not unusual for a development kernel to go above x.x.100.

      Ohhh, and 2.0.x was in 36 revisions when i shifted to 2.2.0

      I still don't know why 2.2.x had so few releases. only 17 before 2.4.0... weird...

      • Re:release often (Score:2, Interesting)

        by Ctrl-Z ( 28806 )

        Uh, maybe because it was good and didn't need that many releases? I never had any problems with any of the 2.2.x kernels I used.
      • "I still don't know why 2.2.x had so few releases. only 17 before 2.4.0..."

        why, back in my day, we got nine [kernel.org] stable kernel releases, and that was it! oh, sure, some times we'd get as much as thirteen [kernel.org] - though those cursed releases from 1.2.10 to 1.2.13 were for the ignorant masses! anyone who knows their stuff never uses a kernel with a patchlevel of 10 or above.

        happily posting with 2.4.9, and you should too!
    • ... they'll have to start calling them 'service packs'...

      Nah, call them "feature releases" - it's the same thing, but you get to charge money for them.
      (Citrix *really* sucks.)
    • No, they will increment the middle no., just like what they did when it went beyond 2.3.99 [kernel.org]

      Just kidding. :)

  • freshmeat (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Is VA Linux / Research / Software / Panhandler trying to save domain registration fees by combining slashdot and freshmeat or something?
  • Maybe chrisd meant here [kernel.org]. The page he posted was the mirrored sites AT kernel.org.

  • New rules when announcing Kernels. (Score:3, Flamebait)

    by SirStanley ( 95545 ) on Monday November 05, 2001 @07:53PM (#2525535) Homepage
    Since when is the Linux Kernel "The Kernel" "Kernel 2.4.14 is Out" is being highly biased towards Linux users... I thought Affirmitive Action was Illegal.. Isn't showing bias towards a Lesser Operating system in order to get it more accepted Affirmitive Action? Dammit. I run FreeBSD. My Kernel isn't at 2.4.14.... So I'm alienated.... Where's the ACLU?
    • We get a new release in about two months, and *we're* past 4. See, these Linux newbies haven't even caught up with that Gates character's 3.1.


      While the strange affirmative actions really shouldn't happen, it's really more important that FreeBSD and our little brother Linux form a united front againat the *real* enemy we have in common: NetBSD.


      :)


      hawk

  • Useless point... (Score:5, Informative)

    by LSD-OBS ( 183415 ) on Monday November 05, 2001 @07:55PM (#2525546)
    "from the 14-and-counting dept."

    We're actually at 15 (not 14) and counting - kernel version numbers are 0-based, and sequential.

    Sorry moderators - I just had to :)

  • Preemptible kernel patch (Score:4, Informative)

    by tarka69 ( 159890 ) <tarkasteve@gMOSCOWmail.com minus city> on Monday November 05, 2001 @08:13PM (#2525609)
    Once again it's worth mentioning the preemptible kernel patch [tech9.net]. I've been running this for the last couple of releases, and for a developer's desktop system it give noticable results.

    Case in point from yesterday: Running gnome desktop, with a kernel build going in the background, while ripping a CD, running mozilla and netscape 4.x, and running and testing a mod_perl/mysql system, all on the same machine, xmms didn't miss a beat.

    No, I'm not exaggerating. This was all on a 700MHz Athlon, 256M, IDE.

    • Here's a quote from one of Andera's (author of the new VM) posts on LKML that may interest you: indeed, the only thing that PE can really change is the mean latency but everbody only cares about worst case latency and nominal performance, possibly except realtime signal processing (not multimedia playback like listening mp3).

    • No, I'm not exaggerating. This was all on a 700MHz Athlon, 256M, IDE.

      Hm, so do you suppose it'll help my 75MHz Pentium, 32M laptop?

  • What excitement! (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I'd be more excited about Kernel Sanders doing the kernel releases!

  • 2.4.14 not ready yet either (Score:5, Informative)

    by (startx) ( 37027 ) <slashdotNO@SPAMunspunproductions.com> on Monday November 05, 2001 @08:38PM (#2525703) Journal
    looks like this one isn't ready yet either. loop.c needs some sergery, or else the whole thing won't even compile, dying at

    drivers/block/block.o: In function `lo_send':
    drivers/block/block.o(.text+0x894f): undefined reference to `deactivate_page'
    drivers/block/block.o(.text+0x8999): undefined reference to `deactivate_page'
    make: *** [vmlinux] Error 1
    it's allready been posted to the lkml, look for a 2.4.15-pre1 or at least a loop.c patch to come around soon.

    • here's a patch for it (Score:2, Informative)

      by (startx) ( 37027 )
      yeah, I know replying to ones' self if lame, whatever. Here is a patch from the lkml.

      diff -X /home/chris/dontdiff -Naur linux-2.4.14/drivers/block/loop.c
      +linux-2.4.14-loop/drivers/block/loop.c
      --- linux-2.4.14/drivers/block/loop.c Thu Oct 25 13:58:34 2001
      +++ linux-2.4.14-loop/drivers/block/loop.c Mon Nov 5 17:06:08 2001
      @@ -207,7 +207,6 @@
      index++;
      pos += size;
      UnlockPage(page);
      - deactivate_page(page);
      page_cache_release(page);
      }
      return 0;
      @@ -218,7 +217,6 @@
      kunmap(page);
      unlock:
      UnlockPage(page);
      - deactivate_page(page);
      page_cache_release(page);
      fail:
      return -1;

      use at your own risk, or some of that legal junk.
      • Undefined symbol? Just delete it! If nothing breaks, then it couldn't have been that important...

        Okay, I'm mostly joking, but have you tried rebooting with the new (patched) kernel and using the loopback device yet?

        • Re:Great patch (Score:2, Informative)

          by Harik ( 4023 )
          It was left out... the .14 patch deleted deactivate_page from other places, but missed loop.c. Since it was a straight deletion everywhere else (not replaced with anything) that's the correct
          answer.

          --Dan
      • **DISCLAIMER** I've searched google for this but couldn't find it.
        Can someone tell me how to use a patch cut'n'pasted from a website? when I use the normal command patch -p1 it gives me some errors.
        thanx in advance
    • actually, there are already two bugs. the one for loop.c is by far the worst.

      as for loop.c, Linus gives this (not very detailed)answer:
      http://www.uwsg.indiana.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel /0111.0/1084.html [indiana.edu]
      (just delete the two lines were deactivate_page appear).
      But what makes me worried about that is Andrea's mail:
      http://www.uwsg.indiana.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel /0111.0/1088.html [indiana.edu]

      second bug is using I2C Philips PARPORT:
      http://www.uwsg.indiana.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel /0111.0/1089.html [indiana.edu]
      it should impact that many people, but it's a great one.

      so actually, that means Linus didn't try to compile the kernel enabling all modules before releasing it. waow :-((
  • I can't find an RPM of 2.4.14 in any of the usual places. Anyone know where one is available? I had problems compiling 2.4.13 last time and had to wait for an RPM.
    I'd like to get this installed on the workstations and maybe some of the servers tomorrow morning.
    Thanks in advance!

  • New ./ feature idea (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Atilla ( 64444 ) on Monday November 05, 2001 @09:28PM (#2525862) Homepage
    Ok, how about this -

    maybe major kernel release posts should go in their own category, so whiners could set their user prefs to not display them.

  • Good gravy! (Score:2, Redundant)

    by CAIMLAS ( 41445 )
    I can't hardly get a kernel compiled before the next version is released! You'd think they'd wait a little longer to go to the next version. Seems to me like the 2.4 strain got up to .14 much, much faster than 2.2 did... or is it just me?
    • You compiling on a 386 it takes you that long? ;-)

      *
    • If they don't post a lot of minor stuff the activity percentile drops like a rock on sourceforge. I don't agree with this, I feel that a CVS ci should have a reasonable chance at running on a typical machine. I'm not saying that every command combination needs to be checked, but it should reasonably work.

      Everday people get realy turned off if they co the latest and greatest from CVS and the program doesn't even compile, or segfaults on first try. It makes OSs developers look real unprofessional.

      It used to be that a even minor number on the kernal was considered stable, and at least was in beta status. I guess that that is out-the-window now. I can't figure out why both Linus and AC are working on 2.4, I thought Linus was supossed to jump from 2.3 to 2.5, when 2.3 was stable enough to become 2.4, then 2.4 versions increments were little details that turned up during more widespread usage, and features from 2.5 that became stable enough.

  • chrisd? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by KidSock ( 150684 ) on Monday November 05, 2001 @09:44PM (#2525899)
    Who's chrisd? Is that short or Christine? Finally, a female editor. But I still think this is discriminatory because a Kernel release is trivial. Let's see what Christie can really do! Let her post something real goddamnit!
  • pre4:
    - Mikael Pettersson: fix P4 boot with APIC enabled

  • Unslashdottable (Score:2, Interesting)

    by cafelatte ( 99544 )
    I'm having serious deja vu here. I can vaguely recall an article posted previously on slashdot at sometime in the past before now, that mentioned something about a new linux kernel release. It seems that the kernel.org server(s) are unslashdottable. I'm downloading at 27kb/s. Why would they need mirrors? The server specs must be pretty good. I wonder what operating system they'd be using.
    • I've seen kernel.org fill up. I think it did sometime late last week, in fact. But they do have a 100Mbit/sec connection, which is pretty darn fast. 27kb/sec is kind of slow for them; they usually max out my DSL link at around 650kbit/s or 700kbit/s (== about 84kbyte/sec).

      -Paul Komarek
  • says the Linux Counter systemstats [li.org].
    Granted, this has about a month's lead time, and is hardly "representative" (more enthusiasts than real users), but it shows 2.4 at 58.6% of the 1142 machines registered. 2.4.14 is 0.4%, 2.4.12 is 10.8%, beating everything but 2.2.19 (at 14.6%).
    btw, the 5 registered 2.4.14 kernels are all prereleases - pre5aa1 being the most popular one.
    This is a fun view - but that's no reason not to get counted!

    Harald, counter, compulsive.

  • I'll throw in my own plug, then! (Score:5, Interesting)

    by jd ( 1658 ) <imipakNO@SPAMyahoo.com> on Tuesday November 06, 2001 @07:39AM (#2526974) Homepage Journal
    For those wanting to try the pre-emptible kernel patch, the HP scheduler-plugin, compressed memory hardware, STP, XFS, JFS, Linux on an old VMS box, any one of a number of VME crates, serial-based network controllers, or the various latency clean-ups, then you could always try the FOLK [sourceforge.net] kernel seris. FOLK 2.3.0 is stable (gasp!) and provides more today than the first fifty 2.5.x kernels are likely to.


    (And by the time those come out, FOLK will be comparable to Linux 2.7.0 in terms of features & performance.)

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