On Mon, 26 Jan 2004 10:01:01 -0800 Ted Ozolins <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Jakub Krajcovic wrote: > > >Well, i personally agree to what Collins said in the first mail. I really do think > >that the problems with the (supposedly) less-stable 2.6 kernels less common. > > > >And people, how did you come to the conclusion that mostly "kernel-knowedgeable" > >people use the 2.6 series?? I mean, i don't think of myself as Mr Lamer, i can't > >hack the kernel in one afternoon either (that was probably a bit uptight, but i > >hope you get the picture). > > > >I think that the main reason why to use the 2.6 kernel is the performance increase > >especially in X, and the overall speed and i daresay stability. And unless someone > >really plans to do weird shit with the kernel, i doubt he will come across some > >significant problems... > > > > > > > I'm begining to believe that the kernel developers jumped the 2.4.x ship > a bit too soon to get on with 2.6.x. I've experience all sorts of small > pita problems as I've migrated up the 2.4.x tree. Once I've caught up > on some of my work here, (dang! I knew I should have drained that swamp, > way too many critters to deal with<G>) I'll be giving 2.6.x a shot on my > main system. I have found that a lot of the "kernel savey" users aren't > always the first to move up to a new kernel. The new kids on the block > seem to lead perhaps because they feel that they must have the latest > and greatest new toy. Having said that, "less problems reported because > the user base have a greater knowledge in dealing with kernel related > problems" falls way short of the truth. If I recall correctly, the > first 2.4.x series started out with one patch after another. I ran with > the 2.2.x on my firewall (upgraded and patched manytimes) untill this > past weekend. That will be brought up to the 2.6.x kernel this coming > weekend. My lab_rat has been running 2.6.1-rc1 without as much as a > burp. I will be installing a new ATI card on it this week and see how > that goes, if well then I'll be updating all the machines here to > 2.6.1-rc1 or what ever is available on gentoo. I do not consider myself > a linux expert nor am I a kernel(or anything else) hacker, my > observations are merely from an end user perspective. > Sorry (but not really, it does provide lots of valuable information) to stir up a hornet's nest. I'll retire with the following (tame, I hope observations): 1. 2.5/2.6 has been a smoother transition on my machines (AthlonXP and P4) than 2.3/2.4 was. Nary a burp. My personal experience only. No scientific study. YMMV. My opinion and $2.00 will buy you coffee most places in the world. 2. I was only being honest when I said there were more reports of problems with 2.4 on this mailing group than with 2.6. Until I opened the door, I hadn't read a-n-y complaints about keyboards, which is not to say that they don't exist. Maybe they've been reported on forums which I don't follow with any regularity. 3. You really can't discount screwups with the gentoo kernel sources. A screwup is a screwup, and stable it's not. I'll also stick by my guns: there are nearly as many fixes going into 2.4 as I see going into 2.6. As to whether that is stable behavior is a good question. I would expect lots of fixes on 2.6 (it's brand new), but IMO the last couple of dot releases of 2.4 seem to have been served up medium rare rather than fully cooked. 4. I used nvidia drivers on my AthlonXP system from late 2.5 through latest for me (see sig) without any additional problems beyond those seen on 2.4. But then I don't use frame buffer. And yes, nvidia drivers are binary crap that is not maintainable === no different from the situation on 2.4. The nvidia drivers produce lots of failure messages (a few hundred a day) on both 2.4 and 2.6 on my AthlonXP system; but there are no X failures. Since I'm not a gamer, I probably should revert to the standard X drivers. 5. I like to tinker with newer kernels (does that count as kernel savey?), but if I encounter problems I back out and wait on any kernel series. No need ever to back out on my machines since 2.5 days. Plenty of people have reported backing out of not quite ready 2.4 dot releases. I've been pleased with the quality of 2.6 releases, but then as Ted said, I don't have any "weird shit" on my machines. Enjoy. -- Collins - Denver Area - Gentoo stable kernel 2.6.2-rc1 -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list
