Ok, a couple of people have said that it's unrealistic for Linus
to even *compile* all the code that goes into a 2.1.XX release.
I will try to make my points more clearly:
Point 1: Many patches in the 2.1.XX release are being integrated with
zero testing by the person submitting the patch.
As evidence for point (1), I offer:
2.1.18 modules patch:
prematurely integrated into kernel.
2.1.15 drivers/char/pcwd.c:
looks like it was crunched in a round of patch integration
and never even compiled by anyone
2.1.12 sr_ioctl patch
person who wrote the patch mis-understood the code, broke it
through his mis-understanding, and never executed his code
successfully before distributing it
Point 2: This is a problem.
This is a matter of opinion and it's my opinion that this is a problem.
Specifically, it's a problem for me because: I would like to run current
kernels so that I can pursue my own kernel development on them; and I
have lost faith that all new code in the kernel is getting tested by the
people who wrote it before I see it.
I have my own ideas about solutions for this problem but as the
discussion appears to be centering on discussing whether this is a
problem, I'll keep these ideas to myself for now.
Finally I would like to address the argument 'go run 2.0.XX if you want
a stable kernel'. I don't need a stable kernel. But I do want a kernel
where ALL code gets tested at least ONCE by the people who write it
BEFORE they hand it to Linus.
Is that asking too much?
Michael Chastain
mec@shout.net
"love without fear"