Anthony,
I am not an expert on Linux kernels, and I'm sure there are people on this list
that will disagree with the below, but my thoughts are:
It depends on what you are trying to do.
If you are a kernel developer, or you want to be on the bleeding edge of kernel
capabilities, then you need a kernel from kernel.org or one of the other kernel
maintainers.
For production I like to use distribution kernels.or patched distribution
kernels. i.e. From Redhat, SuSE, Mandrake, etc.
My logic for this is that if the kernel turns out to have a bug, it is likely
that distribution maintainer will correct the kernel and send out the fix.
i.e. Redhat supported the 2.4.9 kernel for 8 months or so, and may still be
releasing patches for it.
If you are using a kernel.org kernel, and you get a rev. level behind, nobody
is going to support you.
i.e. If you have 2.4.17 kernel today, and a kernel bug pops up that you care
about, there is nobody that is going to creating patches against that "old" of
a kernel. As I understand it, the kernel developers never fix a released
kernel. If something is broke, they fix it in the next release.
Unfortunately, something else will likely be broken in the next release.
If you want a "maintained" kernel, you have to get it from a distribution
provider.
Another issue, is that if you upgrade your kernel and you don't get all the
associated pieces, you can break some applications.
i.e. Some of the xfs user-land tools for kernels prior to 2.4.18 don't work
with the 2.4.18 kernel. I imagine that there are many of these kernel
dependencies spread around a typical distribution, and you risk breaking things
if you upgrade the kernel lock, stock, and barrel.
Greg Freemyer
Internet Engineer
Deployment and Integration Specialist
Compaq ASE - Tru64
Compaq Master ASE - SAN Architect
The Norcross Group
www.NorcrossGroup.com
>> Greg,
>> Are there any advantages to me using the Mantel/SuSE kernel over the
>> latest
>> sources from sgi?
>> Thanks,
>> Anthon
>> > Anthony,
>> >
>> > The notes at
>> >
>> ftp://ftp-linux.cc.gatech.edu/pub/linux/distributions/suse/people/mantel/
>> ne
>> >xt/kernel-source.changes give you some of what you are asking about.
>> >
>> > Per the above, it is based on the 2.4.19-pre8aa1 kernel. I believe that
>> > already has the XFS patches in it, so you could look into what it has.
>> >
>> > For details, I guess you need to download the source RPM and read the
>> > specfile.
>> >
>> > Greg
>> >
>> > >> > Since you are using a SuSE distribution, have you thought about
>> > >> > using
>> > >>
>> > >> the
>> > >>
>> > >> > SuSE experimental kernel from
>> > >> > ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/people/mantel/next/RPM/
>> > >> >
>> > >> > It has all the standard SuSE patches and includes a relatively
>> > >> > recent
>> > >>
>> > >> XFS.
>> > >>
>> > >> > Possibly XFS v1.1, but I'm not sure.
>> > >>
>> > >> I have the Mantel's latest kernel installed on my laptop however
>> I'm
>> > >> not certain what it is that I have. What I mean by that is how do I
>> > >> find out what XFS version and patch level do I have so that I can
>> > >> decide on patch upgrades? I know it says kernel 2.4.18 however is
>> it
>> > >> really 2.4.19 pre... .
>> > >> As you can see, I'm not certain of the versions and patch levels
>> > >> contained
>> > >>
>> > >> within the Mantel stuff.
>> > >>
>> > >> Anthony
>> > >>
>> > >> > FYI: The stock SuSE 8.0 kernel also has XFS support, but the ACL
>> > >>
>> > >> handling
>> > >>
>> > >> > is broken in such a way that xfsdump/xfsrestore don't handle ACLs
>> > >> > correctly.
>> > >> >
>> > >> > Greg Freemyer
>> > >> > Internet Engineer
>> > >> > Deployment and Integration Specialist
>> > >> > Compaq ASE - Tru64
>> > >> > Compaq Master ASE - SAN Architect
>> > >> > The Norcross Group
>> > >> > www.NorcrossGroup.com
>> > >> >
>> > >> > >> Steve,
>> > >> > >> What do you recommend that I use since the box I'm building
>> is
>> > >> > >> a development
>> > >> > >> box for myself which I will be using for development
>> purposes
>> > >> > >> and
>> > >>
>> > >> thus
>> > >>
>> > >> > >> will
>> > >> > >> be using other cvs sources from other opesource projects as
>> > >> > >> well?
>> > >> > >>
>> > >> > >> Anthony
>> > >> > >>
>> > >> > >> > On Mon, 2002-06-03 at 13:26, Anthony W. Marino wrote:
>> > >> > >> > > I'm building/setting-up a new server SuSE 7.3 which will
>> > >>
>> > >> include
>> > >>
>> > >> > >> > > 3ware (7810) ide raid (10 or 5) with brand new drives
>> and
>> > >> > >> > > most likely LVM
>> > >> > >>
>> > >> > >> too.
>> > >> > >>
>> > >> > >> > > Should I get the kernel from oss.sgi.com cvs
>> > >> > >> > > (CVSROOT=":pserver:cvs@xxxxxxxxxxx:/cvs" linux-2.4-xfs)
>> or
>> > >> > >> > > is there another location/process that I should
>> entertain?
>> > >> > >> > > Also
>> > >>
>> > >> what
>> > >>
>> > >> > >> > > kernel release does the oss.sgi.com cvs sources give me?
>> > >> > >> > >
>> > >> > >> > > Thank You,
>> > >> > >> > > Anthony
>> > >> > >> >
>> > >> > >> > Right now it gives you 2.4.19-pre9 with xfs and kdb (which
>> > >> > >> > you probably do not care about). There are fixes in this
>> tree
>> > >> > >> > which
>> > >>
>> > >> are
>> > >>
>> > >> > >> > not available anywhere else, it is the most direct link to
>> > >> > >> > XFS development. Of course this also possibly means there
>> are
>> > >> > >> > bugs in this tree which are not available anywhere else.
>> > >> > >> >
>> > >> > >> > Steve
>> >
>> > Greg Freemyer
>> > Internet Engineer
>> > Deployment and Integration Specialist
>> > Compaq ASE - Tru64
>> > Compaq Master ASE - SAN Architect
>> > The Norcross Group
>> > www.NorcrossGroup.com
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