Gidday!
I was just flicking through the Kernel Traffic archives, did a brief skim,
and was alarmed to find my name there. It was in this thread, so I decided
it was worth a second look for my .000000015*10^-999999999 nanoseconds of
fame. I've updated the press release itself below.
There are other cool features I'm leaving out here (devfs, etc, technically
cool stuff), but this is a press release for the newspapers to seize upon,
not a developers' newsletter. I've rewritten the press release itself below;
this is just a change summary.
I really hope this will be released and useful. A computer magazine here
(Australia, but naming no names) had a feature "Alternative OS's" story.
There were quite a few glaring errors and omissions in it, and I banged out
a lengthy correction e-mail to the writer involved. He explained he didn't
have much experience with Linux, and that he wasn't really advanced enough
to see all the new features for himself and that the normal Linux section
writer was away, leaving him, the features writer, to write it. He bemoaned
the fact that there was no central change repository/document out there and
also that a "senior kernel guy told me to 'bugger off'." I'm not defending
him on the last bit, but if we had things like this out and constantly
updated for all the media-y type people, he wouldn't even need to
ask.</sidetrack></rant>
Note: My reference kernels were 2.4.0-test8-pre1 and 2.2.16 (the only
2.2.x machine I have around is a production box on a dead slow dialup, and
I've downloaded far, far too much this month already, so no .17-pre).
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LINUX KERNEL 2.4 (DRAFT!)
The Internet, September XX, 2000
Linus Torvalds and the kernel development team would like to announce the immediate
availability of Linux 2.4, the latest revision of the popular open source operating
system kernel. This update brings increased scalability and performance to all Linux
users, in addition to new hardware support.
Notewothy Features:
-> Enterprise
-> Servers
* Enterprise Ready! Linux 2.4 includes changes that make it even more ready for
Enterprise environments. This new revision supports up to 64 gigabytes of RAM, allows
files to be larger than 2 gigabytes, supports many more simultaneous processes, and
has been largely rewritten to take better advantage of systems with multiple
processors.
* Linux also includes Logical Volume Manager, for easy administration of disk
space; you can also combine several hard drives/partitions into one for even more
space and ease!
-> Platforms
* Linux now supports Itanium, the new 64-bit Intel hardware (aka IA-64), the
S/390, an IBM mainframe, as well as the SuperH, a chip often used in Windows CE-based
handhelds. Existing support for Intel, Apple, Sun SPARC/UltraSPARC, Compaq's Alphas
and MIPS processors has also been greatly improved.
-> Desktop
-> Interfaces
* More interface support! Linux is now even better supported for the desktop
with the advent of support for USB, FireWire and AGP. It also improves current support
for PCMCIA cards, often used in laptops, and Plug and Play devices.
-> Multimedia
* Faster multimedia with specially designed video acceleration drivers. In
combination with the new release of the X Windows System, Linux includes drivers to
take full advantage of your accelerated video card (nVidia and 3Dfx cards among those
supported) to get maximum video performance for gaming, graphics, etc.
-> Network
-> Architecture
* The entire network architecture has been rewritten to make it lean, fast,
powerful and flexible - especially on multi-processor systems. This brings to Linux
the networking ability previously only seen on expensive dedicated equipment.
* Now even more efficient for firewalling and masquerading! Linux includes a new
architecture, known as Netfilter, to act as a firewall (security - choose what gets
through and what doesn't), and masquerading server (multiple machines can share the
one connection without any fuss or hassle). Netfilter is now much quicker, more
functional and more extensible.
-> Protocols
* New Internet features - support for IPv6 and multicasting. In response to the
lack of new internet addresses, a new protocol, IPv6 has been developed to be used in
the next-generation Internet. Linux now supports this and multicasting, a technique
used to minimise bandwidth use.
-> Filesharing/Servers
* Kernel Web server acceleration - In conjunction with any web server such as
Apache, the new Kernel Web Server enhancements can speed up page loading time
dramatically, while seamlessly working with your existing setup.
* Support for version 3 of Sun's popular NFS file system has been added,
ensuring accessibility to and from all UNIX systems, especially Sun's Solaris.
This update is already available to advanced users through multiple kernel mirrors
(for more mirror information, please see http://www.kernel.org). Although no
timeframes have been announced at this time, all current Linux distributors will be
updating to this version of the kernel within the next several months.
Linux is developed by a online team of programmers headed by Linus Torvalds, a
resident of Santa Clara, CA. Linux has been developed using the open source
methodology which provides for source code and peer review at all stages of
development. It is because of this system of openness that Linux has grown to be the
most successful non-corporate operating system to date.
For more information, please consult www.linux.org for a list of other Linux-related
websites. More information on the new features in Linux 2.4 can be found in the
"Wonderful World of Linux 2.4" document, available from *******FIXME: W(here)TF is
it?*********
Linux is a trademark of Linus Torvalds.
--
Daniel Stone
Kernel Hacker (or at least has aspirations to be)
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://dustpuppy.ods.org
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