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  1. Introduction
  2. File system changes
  3. Revamped Graphics
  4. On The Move
  5. Audio and Video
  6. Summary and Trends

2.6.29 summary

Kernel Log Penguin As with its predecessors, Linux 2.6.29 also includes a raft of new features from which even those users who don't usually give the kernel of their Linux distribution a great deal of thought will ultimately benefit. Kernel-based mode setting (KMS) should delight some users with its flicker-free start-up, as well as resolving a few technical problems which can still occasionally cause irritation.

It may, however, be a little while before all the major mainstream distributions are using KMS. The file system changes are, with the exception of SquashFS, also likely to be a little while in gestation before they find their way onto users' system, though they will ultimately be of major importance. The same is likely to be true of WiMAX support – though this depends less on Linux and more on how the technology is adopted in general.

Facts and figures on the latest Linux kernel version

The following table shows the number of changes and development time for recent Linux kernel developments.

Linux
version		 Number of
files1		 Lines of
source code2		 Development
period		 Number of
commits3		 Diffstat4
2.6.24 23062 8859629
(8082358)		 107
days		 9836 10209 files changed,
 776107 insertions(+),
 483031 deletions(-)
2.6.25 23810 9232484
(8396250)		 83
days		 12243 9738 files changed,
 777371 insertions(+),
 404514 deletions(-)
2.6.26 24270 9411724
(8535933)		 88
days		 9941 8676 files changed,
 595393 insertions(+),
 416143 deletions(-)
2.6.27 24354 9709868
(8690888)		 88
days		 10628 15127 files changed,
 1131171 insertions(+),
 912939 deletions(-)
2.6.28 25255 10195507
(9128690)		 76
days		 9048 11090 files changed,
 975689 insertions(+),
 490047 deletions(-)
2.6.29 26668 11010647
(9871260)		 89
days		 11718 10933 files changed,
 1347290 insertions(+),
 532055 deletions(-)
1 find . -type f -not -regex '\./\.git/.*' | wc -l
2 find . -type f -not -regex '\./\.git.*' | xargs cat | wc -l (find . -name *.[hcS] -not -regex '\./\.git.*' | xargs cat | wc -l)
3 git-log --no-merges --pretty=oneline v2.6.(x-1)..v2.6.(x) | wc -l
4 git diff --shortstat v2.6.(x-1)..v2.6.(x)

Kernel trends: What's coming in 2.6.30

Directly following the release of 2.6.29, the first, usually two-week long, merge window phase of the Linux kernel development cycle commences, during which the kernel development team incorporate the many changes for the next version of the kernel into the main development tree.

Linux kernel development cycle
Thanks to the open development process and a long perusal of the tea leaves, The H and the Linux Foundation maintained Linux Weather Forecast, are already in a position to talk about some of the new features which are likely to be in the next kernel increment when the new kernel version is released.

A whole range of changes have already been prepared. These include patches for Ext4, which should mitigate the recently identified risk of data loss through Ext4 delayed allocation, with other patches still on the workbench which may not quite be ready for 2.6.30. Other changes should significantly speed up the page allocator, which is responsible for memory allocation, whilst SLQB makes its appearance as a fourth memory manager with the objective of replacing the aging SLAB and SLUB, itself still in the first flush of youth (see LWN.net article).

The kernel developers also want to add TOMOYO. Neil Brown has put together a number of patches for the next major Linux increment to allow a RAID 1 administered using Linux' software RAID code to be converted to a RAID 5 and to allow the kernel to convert a RAID 5 into a RAID 6 using this code.

Kernel Log on The H will, as usual, be reporting on the major changes integrated into the Linux main line of development and other developments in the Linux kernel field. These include new versions of the stable kernel series (2.6.x.y), which should, over the next few weeks, fix the odd bug or two overlooked by hackers and testers during 2.6.29 development. Assuming that the kernel developers stick to their usual rhythm, Torvalds should be releasing Linux version 2.6.30 in early to mid June. A detailed summary of the major changes in 2.6.30 will then be published on The H Open Source in a Kernel Log like this one. (thl/c't)

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