Linux kernel version 2.6.30 has been released, adding support for new file systems, performance improvements, and new hardware drivers.
The Linux kernel is the core used by GNU/Linux operating system distributions from Red Hat, Novell, and others. The new release was made final and was publicized in a newslist post from Linux developer Linus Torvalds last week.
The most prominent new features include support for two new file systems, according to release notes published by Kernelnewbies, a group of Linux developers.
Support was added or updated for the NILFS2 file system, still under development, which is designed to be more resistant to crashes; and for POHMELFS (Parallel Optimized Host Message Exchange Layered File System), a high-performance and network-distributed file system.
The kernel also comes with updated support for other file systems, including EXOFS, a file system for object-based storage devices, and the FS-Cache file system. Tweaks have been made to generally improve file system performance, Kernelnewbies said.
Storage improvements include the addition of support for DST, a technology designed to simplify the creation of high-performance storage networks.
The kernel adds a feature contributed by Intel for speeding up the kernel's boot time by carrying out several steps of the boot process at once. "This feature speeds up the total kernel boot time significantly," Kernelnewbies wrote in their notes on the release.
Other changes include allowing the use of LZMA and Bzip2 compression of kernel images, so that they take up less space; and new or updated drivers that add support for additional hardware and hardware features.
A new architecture for putting hardware into suspend mode has been put into place, according to Torvalds. "We're hopefully now done with the suspend/resume irq re-architecting, and have switched to a new world order," he wrote in the newslist post.
Matthew Broersma of ZDNet UK reported from London.
Linux project lead Linus Torvalds says it's not easy to become a major contributor to the Linux kernel.
In an e-mail interview with ZDNet.co.uk on Friday, Torvalds said that, while it is relatively easy for coders and organizations to contribute small patches, the contribution of large patches, developed in isolation, could lead to both new and established contributors becoming frustrated.
"It's definitely not easy to become a 'big contributor'," wrote Torvalds. "For one thing, the kernel is quite complex and big, and it inevitably simply takes time to learn all the rules--not just for the code, but for how the whole development environment works. Similarly, for a new developer, it will take time before people start recognizing the name and start trusting the developer to do the right things."
Linus Torvalds and the Linux penguin mascot.
However, Torvalds argued that Linux kernel processes do simplify the process of contributing small patches.
"(We) make it fairly easy for people to ease into kernel development," wrote Torvalds. "It seems to be working too. We literally have thousands of people with patches attributed to them in each release."
Torvalds wrote that nobody should expect to start sending "big and complex" patches early, as it takes time for new contributors and established coders to learn how to interact effectively.
"The worst thing anybody can do is to study the kernel alone and try to learn things in private, and then, however many months later, present all the established kernel developers with a big patch that just comes out of the blue," wrote Torvalds. "That's just going to be frustrating for everybody."
Torvalds advised new contributors to "start small" by sending "trivial patches."
"It may not sound exciting but, quite frankly, I don't think anybody who starts out believing that they want to rewrite some big piece of the kernel should even bother. Reality isn't that simple."
Torvalds acknowledged that frustrated developers may become alienated by the Linux development process, which he said could be improved.
"I don't think a 'perfect' process exists," wrote Torvalds. "Of course, some people will be alienated, and there's no doubt that the process could probably be improved."
The developer warned that Linux kernel development was "not a 'warm and fuzzy' environment where people sing Kumbaya around the fireplace" and that some "very opinionated people" were involved.
"The kernel is about pretty harsh technical issues, and mistakes are really frowned upon," wrote Torvalds. "In an OS kernel, there are simply more security and stability requirements, and the bar is really higher in some respects. That will inevitably also reflect in the response to patches."
Nonetheless, Torvalds said the patching process in Linux was more about human interaction than a quantifiable set of steps, such as those listed in official international standards processes.
Although thousands of developers are involved in Linux kernel coding, Torvalds argued that the development process was still efficient. "I think that one of the things we've been very good at is to scale up with a good network of maintainers, so that most people involved actually don't work closely with more than a handful of people," he wrote.
Mark Taylor, president of the Open Source Consortium, told ZDNet.co.uk on Friday that, in general, enterprise-class open-source projects are designed to scale appropriately.
"The whole process scales very well," said Taylor. "Normally the people you find at the core (of open-source projects) are professional software engineers; these guys know how to run software projects."
Torvalds' and Taylor's comments follow the recent publication of a guide to Linux kernel development by the Linux Foundation, which aims to prevent developers becoming frustrated with the process.
Tom Espiner of ZDNet UK reported from London.
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