Linux creator Linus Torvalds has released a fresh test version of the long-delayed 2.6 operating system kernel, which is expected to be the last test release before the software is finalised.
Kernel version 2.6.0-test11 made its way onto the Web late on Wednesday, before Torvalds said he was clocking off for the US' long Thanksgiving holiday weekend. "Please don't even bother sending me patches, because I'll be stuffing my face away from email over the next few days," Torvalds wrote in an email to the Linux kernel mailing list. "Mmmm. Turkey."
The release is one more incremental step towards the finalisation of version 2.6.0, which was originally planned for mid-2003 and will now probably arrive in December, according to Andrew Morton, the programmer in charge of the software. Testers can download releases from kernel.org.
Morton said in an interview earlier this week that 2.6.0-test10 would probably be the last test release, but a set of Linux drivers for Adaptec devices, called aic7xxx, was found to be broken in the earlier release, Torvalds said. The new release also fixes a few other minor bugs.
Version 2.6.0 itself will emerge by the end of the year "unless the wheels fall off in a serious manner," 2.6 overseer Andrew Morton said on Tuesday. The 2.6 Linux core, called the kernel, brings major changes compared with the 2.4 version currently sold by companies such as Red Hat and SuSE Linux. One significant improvement is the ability to take advantage of the powerful servers with numerous processors, a market where Unix is popular today and which Microsoft also is trying to crack.
Linux is based on Unix. But unlike Unix, Linux grew popular on widely used and low-priced Intel-based computers. It first became popular among corporate customers on lower-end servers, but running on higher-end servers will let Linux supplant more of the Unix market.
A large number of often self-appointed programmers create Linux by collaborating and sharing the source code that underlies the software. This open-source development process contrasts starkly with the proprietary controls that govern Linux competitors such as Unix and Windows. But one thing is similar with the two approaches: delays.
Linus Torvalds, who founded and still leads the Linux programming project, said last year he hoped 2.6.0 would emerge in June. Similar schedule slips afflicted the 2.4 kernel, which was released in January 2001.
CNET News.com's Stephen Shankland contributed to this report.
Talkback
Linux is NOT, REPEAT NOT, "...based on Unix!"
You say:
<b><l>"Linux is based on Unix"</b></l>
Classic ZDNet "mistake." It reinforces the abysmally-wrong premise put out to the less-savvy by the SCO bandits. It is an erroneous idea that's been parroted by too much of the media.
Linux is NOT Unix.
Linux is a GNU project covered by the GPL IP rules..
GNU projects are G-N-U, which literally means "GNU's NOT UNIX."
Linux is NOT "based on Unix"
Linux is NOT "derived from Unix" (as SCO KNOWS)
Linux IS UNIX-LIKE. It is similar but genetically different.
Linux and Unix are both POSIX-compliant, sure, but NOT the "same." Interesting that MS is dropping whatever POSIX compliance there is in its software, hmmm...
Linus Torvalds began writing what became the Linux kernel because he couldn't afford Unix and was less than pleased by the performance and features of the POSIX-compliant Minix OS he was using at Helsinki University. This is a matter of public record.
<b><l>"But unlike Unix, Linux grew popular on widely used and low-priced Intel-based computers."<b><l>
The beauty is that it scales up and down, both, from wristwatches to "big iron" like IBM's s/390 mainframes.
<b><l>"It first became popular among corporate customers on lower-end servers, but running on higher-end servers will let Linux supplant more of the Unix market. "</b></l>
And, eventually, MS product, as it is more secure, flexible, stable and much easier on the pocketbook. It has run on many more architectures than MS product, for years.
Yep, the 2.60 version will run much better on 32- to 64-processor machines using Intel, AMD and Power4/5 chips, but - as in the reference above - people were able to successfully run something in excess of <b><l> 40,000 simultaneous instances</b></l> of Linux on big iron over two years ago. Amazing. Would you see such virtual partitioning using an MS OS?
Just imagine the licensing costs alone, LOL...
Cheers!
Dick in Manhattan
Linux is not late or delayed...
Because it has no deadlines and release dates. The "It'll be ready when its ready" approach is much easier to plan with. Now that the development release is finalised I can start to think about it.
In a while the community will have given it a hammering and then we can all use it in the reasonably secure knowledge that it is not going to fall over in the first (digital) gust of wind... Unlike Windows releases.