Unneeded RFC: Starting a stable kernel series off the 2.6 kernel

From: Jonathan A. George
Date: Sun Dec 04 2005 - 11:21:24 EST


This is really a silly discussion:

2.6.x release is the initial base for each stable release
!with absolutely no intention of stalling non-useland API's!

2.6.x.y releases are the stability updates to the base release
and in kernel API's will usually stay stable

If you want an ultra stable kernel you should start with the last stable release and start tracking what you consider critical fixes from the next base kernel (2.6.x) forward (essentially creating your own vendor branch). Alternatively you should use a vendor branch which already does this for you with the addition of back porting important new device drivers (Debian Stable, RHEL, SLES, ...).

The 2.6 development model finally gives developers the ability to dump cruft, fix broken architecture, and add performance enhancements in a timely manor. Linux development hasn't worked this well since 1.2 was small enough to test and release quickly.


OTOH it would be nice if core userland (libc, udev, binutils, shellutils) were managed as a single project (as with OpenBSD) so that userland breakage would be better managed. :-)
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