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For The Fraser Valley Linux Users Group By Alan Bailward . Introduction the Linux Kernel 2.6. Overview. What is a “kernel” What does this release mean Nifty new things Back-end changes Upgrading Question Time Resources. What is a Kernel. Core of the OS - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Introduction the Linux Kernel 2.6
ForThe Fraser Valley Linux Users Group
By Alan Bailward<[email protected]>
Overview
What is a “kernel”What does this release meanNifty new thingsBack-end changesUpgradingQuestion TimeResources
What is a Kernel
● Core of the OS● Controls all input and output● In development since 1991● Works in conjunction with your shell, tools and
applications
What 2.6 Means
● The 2.6 designation means that this is a stable kernel
● Almost● Currently (12/7/2003) at 2.6.0-test11● Linus is anticipating the full release by the end
of the year● Already very stable and many are using it● More “industry strength” features● Improved user experience
Nifty New Things
● New menu systems (gtk and qt)
Nifty New Things Cont...
● New build system– No more compile messages! (unless you use V=1)
Back-end Changes
● Hardware Support– better embedded support– better NUMA (non-uniform memory access... think
SMP++) support– Hyperthreading
● Scalability– PAE (physical address extension to allow x86 to
access up to 64G of ram)– higher limits on PIDs and device major and minor
numbers
Back-end Changes 2
● Interactivity– preemptible
● kernel operations can be interrupted● improves responsiveness ● “feels faster”● supposedly better than the 2.4 preempt patches
– threading ● start and stop 100,000 threads in 2 seconds (vs 14:58
before)
Back-end Changes 3
● Modules renamed to .ko● Stability improvements to the module subsystem● ISA, EISA, PCI systems are modules● Hotplug improvements● New filesystem sysfs
– /sys– joins /proc, /dev (devfs) and devpts– has all known attributes of the device (irq, dma,
power status, etc)
Back-end Changes 4
● Better PnP● USB 2.0 (“high speed”)● Wireless support merged into single subsystem
– amateur radio AX.25– wireless 802.11
● Infrared updates● Bluetooth updates● IDE updates and scalability improvements● No more ide-scsi for CD writing!● New Serial ATA drivers● SCSI updates
Back-end Changes 5
● Ext2/3 extended attributes– meta-data and finer grained permissions– catching up to windows in this respect!
● XFS added● NFS improvements, r/w better but still
experimental● Quota support more scalable
Back-end Changes 6
● Human Interface layer– create a completely headless system – complete modularity for video, keyboard, mouse, and
all things human (ph34r the machines!)● Touch screens● Strange mice● Braille devices● Magic sysrq key now not only from a console● ALSA (advanced linux sound architecture)
merged
Back-end Changes 7 (last one!)
● Networking updates– many small changes here and there– IPSEC support
● allows for transparent cryptography through ipv4 and ipv6– VLAN (for routers) support no longer experimental
● Network filesystem updates– NFSv4 support – CIFS (streamlined SMB)
● Many security updates– alternate security modules begun
● User mode Linux● APM/ACPI improvements
The “Gotchas”
● Not all non-open source packages are updated yet● May need patches for
– vmware– nvidia
● My own personal experience:– mouse speed changed– mouse buttons stopped working– vga=791 frame-buffer no longer worked
● have heard of problems with CD burning● some apps aren't updated yet● Gentoo changes with devfs and ptyfs
Upgrading
● module-init-tools● mkdir /sys● ensure keyboard and video are loaded in● pty filesystem
Questions?
Resources
● http://kniggit.net/wwol26.html● http://kernel.org● http://www.nyetwork.org/wiki/LinuxKernel● http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=70838● http://kerneltrap.org/node/view/799● http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/21/2024247● http://thomer.com/linux/migrate-to-2.6.html