Update to Linux kernel debuts after 'false alarms'

The latest version of the Linux kernel has been released, almost a month later than originally planned.

Version 2.6.14 of the kernel was initially planned for release on Oct. 7, Andrew Morton, the lead maintainer of the Linux production kernel, said in a mailing list posting in September.

Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux and the maintainer of the development kernel, said the delay in the release was disappointing as it was partly caused by mistaken bug reports and was therefore potentially unnecessary.

"2.6.14 was delayed twice due to some last-minute bug reports, some of which ended up being false alarms (hey, I should be happy, but it was a bit frustrating)," Torvalds said in an e-mail.

The kernel, which was released late last week, includes improvements "all over the place", including updates to "pretty much every architecture" and changes to a number of subsystems, according to Torvalds, in an earlier e-mail.

For example, developers have added support for Intel's Centrino notebook technology to the standard kernel and have improved support for the high-speed networking standard InfiniBand.

Last month, Torvalds expressed concerns that the kernel development process may need to be changed to prevent Morton from burning out.

Ingrid Marson of ZDNet UK reported from London.