The difference between Linus's kernel and Alan Cox's kernel
-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE- Hash: SHA1 Hi. Maybe lots of you already know the answer, maybe it's a really stupid question. If it is, please tell me. I'll not be offended. Why there are two different kernel trees? There is always the official release, provided by Torvalds, and then Alan provides a patch merging Linus's stuff, and adding (?) tons of bug fixes. Why aren't the -ac patches completely merged to the official tree, and you centralize the work on single kernel patches ?? Won't it be easier to administrate? I'm so sorry if it's a really stupid question. It's because I never know what pre-patch to apply, the -ac* or the -pre*. In doubt, I apply Alan's, because it appears to be always Linus stuff, and more bug fixes, recently, the Linus's -pre* appears to have merges from the -ac on each release. I just don't understand why it can all be merged. Regards, Thiago Vinhas de Moraes NetWorx - A SuaCompanhia.com Rio de Janeiro - Brazil -BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE- Version: GnuPG v1.0.4 (GNU/Linux) Comment: For info see http://www.gnupg.org iD8DBQE7Dry8GHuTR9LK9ocRAsIIAKCs/uMrlDxZSlst8J0h0D6k6tylkACeKNMB ESyPHbcpcbxWr48NySQYUBs= =FotG -END PGP SIGNATURE- - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/
Re: The difference between Linus's kernel and Alan Cox's kernel
Em Sex 25 Mai 2001 20:05, Alan Cox escreveu: > > Why there are two different kernel trees? There is always the official > > release, provided by Torvalds, and then Alan provides a patch merging > > Linus's stuff, and adding (?) tons of bug fixes. > > Well it started by accident but it turns out good to have a tree that > changes are merged into, tested by those who need the fixes and reviewed by > third parties before they go to Linus. > > So the -ac tree is kind of a peer review, testing and distillation process > for patches. But will this happen forever? You (Alan) is currently the maintaner of the 2.2 tree. Won't you be going to assume the 2.4 tree, while the 2.5 series development starts? BTW, Thanks for your answer. Regards, -- Thiago Vinhas de Moraes NetWorx - A SuaCompanhia.com - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/
Re: The difference between Linus's kernel and Alan Cox's kernel
It really ought to be Linus and/or Alan who answers this, but from my own observations, here's the way I think it goes: Alan and Linus don't always agree on what should be in the kernel; and even when they do, they sometimes disagree on when something is ready to be included. Alan may think a particular set of patches are ready, while Linus thinks they need to mature a bit more; or perhaps he thinks the whole approach is wrong and should be scrapped. So Alan puts it in his kernel, and Linus leaves it out of his. (Of course, sometimes it's Linus who adds something that Alan rejects.) It sometimes happens that one of these new ideas turns out better than expected (especially after going through a few bug report/new patch cycles), and the person who rejected it changes his mind and includes it later; or maybe it doesn't work out and gets dropped altogether. Also, as you've already observed, Alan regularly resyncs major parts of his tree with Linus' so they don't get too far apart, and Linus occasionally does the same. It used to bother me, too, to have to keep up with two different kernel trees. But I've come to realize that this is a Good Thing. It provides a way for people with different viewpoints to approach an idea from more than one direction. If the two kernels are trying to solve a particular problem in different ways, we get to see how each approach works in the real world, rather than just in a theoretical discussion. If the two kernels branch too far apart it could be a problem, but Linus and Alan have been diligent about keeping that from happening. I think the interplay (is "competition" too strong a word?) between the two branches has helped make the "official" kernel better than it might have been otherwise. Wayne - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/
Re: The difference between Linus's kernel and Alan Cox's kernel
On Fri, May 25, 2001 at 11:32:18PM +0200, Erik Mouw wrote: > On Fri, May 25, 2001 at 05:12:39PM -0300, Thiago Vinhas de Moraes wrote: > > Why there are two different kernel trees? There is always the official > > release, provided by Torvalds, and then Alan provides a patch merging Linus's > > stuff, and adding (?) tons of bug fixes. > > I just added this to the kernelnewbies FAQ: > > http://www.kernelnewbies.org/faq.php3 Typo: First para, last sentence: s/Linux/Linus/ -- CaT ([EMAIL PROTECTED])*** Jenna has joined the channel. speaking of mental giants.. me, a giant, bullshit And i'm not mental - An IRC session, 20/12/2000 - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/
Re: The difference between Linus's kernel and Alan Cox's kernel
On Sat, May 26, 2001 at 07:40:18AM +1000, CaT wrote: > On Fri, May 25, 2001 at 11:32:18PM +0200, Erik Mouw wrote: > > I just added this to the kernelnewbies FAQ: > > > > http://www.kernelnewbies.org/faq.php3 > > Typo: First para, last sentence: s/Linux/Linus/ Oops. Fixed, thanks. Erik -- J.A.K. (Erik) Mouw, Information and Communication Theory Group, Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Information Technology and Systems, Delft University of Technology, PO BOX 5031, 2600 GA Delft, The Netherlands Phone: +31-15-2783635 Fax: +31-15-2781843 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] WWW: http://www-ict.its.tudelft.nl/~erik/ - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/
Re: The difference between Linus's kernel and Alan Cox's kernel
> Why there are two different kernel trees? There is always the official > release, provided by Torvalds, and then Alan provides a patch merging Linus's > stuff, and adding (?) tons of bug fixes. Well it started by accident but it turns out good to have a tree that changes are merged into, tested by those who need the fixes and reviewed by third parties before they go to Linus. So the -ac tree is kind of a peer review, testing and distillation process for patches. - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/