New Linux kernel adds file-system support
Summary
Topics
The Linux kernel is the core used by GNU/Linux operating system distributions from Red Hat, Novell Suse and others. The new release was finalised on Tuesday, and was publicized in a post from Linux developer Linus Torvalds on Wednesday.
The most prominent new features include support for two new filesystems, according to release notes published by Kernelnewbies, a group of Linux developers.
Support was added or updated for the NILFS2 filesystem, still under development, which is designed to be more resistant to crashes; and for POHMELFS (Parallel Optimized Host Message Exchange Layered File System), a high-performance and network distributed file system.
The kernel also comes with updated support for other filesystems, including EXOFS, a file system for object-based storage devices, and the FS-Cache filesystem. Tweaks have been made to generally improve file system performance, Kernelnewbies said.
Storage improvements include the addition of support for DST, a technology designed to simplify the creation of high-performance storage networks.
The kernel adds a feature contributed by Intel for speeding up the kernel's boot time by carrying out several steps of the boot process at once. "This feature speeds up the total kernel boot time significantly," Kernelnewbies wrote in their notes on the release.
Other changes include allowing the use of LZMA and Bzip2 compression of kernel images, so that they take up less space; and new or updated drivers that add support for additional hardware and hardware features.
A new architecture for putting hardware into suspend mode has been put into place, according to Torvalds. "We're hopefully now done with the suspend/resume irq re-architecting, and have switched to a new world order," he wrote in the newslist post.
This article was originally published on ZDNet UK.
Talkback Most Recent of 57 Talkback(s)
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DonnieBoy15th Jun 2009 -
I agree
The coding model is proving to be very successful for kernel
development.
Richard Flude15th Jun 2009 -
yet another useless file system
yet another useless file system
directory15th Jun 2009 -
But but but!
But this is THE file system to use! Its the future! Until they add another file system next month to the kernel that is supposed to replace this one and make the kernel even more bloated than necessary.
Loverock Davidson15th Jun 2009 -
If by kernel you mean "kernel source"
then yes it is quite bloated because of all its potential, however the final binaries are generally quite tight.
Michael Kelly15th Jun 2009 -
If I didn't have some sense of decency.
Right here is where a great "Your Mum" joke would be put into play.
nucrash15th Jun 2009 -
So how's WinFS working out for you?
At least these people seem capable of developing a functioning file system, unlike the "huge pool of money and talent" at Microsoft, and other places.
zkiwi15th Jun 2009 -
The ignorance of the windows fanboy
The Linux file systems are optional. They don't add to bloat if you don't
use them.
Different uses benefit from different file systems because they're
designed for different purposes. New file systems don't replace older
ones, they provide more choice.Richard Flude15th Jun 2009 -
Useless file system? Aw... come on....!
I've been Microsoft through-and-through, with certificates for many Microsoft qualifications for many years (Windows 2.0 anyone..?) and Bill, Steve and Ray have and are responsible for giving me an opportunity to earn an income.
However... WinFS - where'd it go? Still vapourware? Binned and forgotten?
Linux is where the true pioneering spirit is kicking in. I see development going on with the kernel and the adoption of potential FS from the mundane to the cutting edge and I can't help feeling a little envious. POHMELFS itself sounds extremely promising and Linux will offer that "out of the box" - not mandated to run one FS like NTFS and supporting other file systems as and when they are deemed useful.
Windows fanboys - I know that W7 and W2k8R2 are going to offer all kinds of wonderful tools, but a little respect for the "opposition" might hold us in good stead and we may find that as time goes on our Windows installations might offer us the same degree of choice we can see in the Linux camp...
bedswerver16th Jun 2009 -
Typical Linux
And they wonder why Linux has less than 1% of
the market. It's because this is further proof
that they still cannot settle on anything.
There is so much unfinished garbage polluting
distro repositories. Linux is one big perpetual
beta and always will be.
Until the Linux community comes together,
shrinks down the number of distros so they can
use their collective intelligence to actually
polish something, they will always be last
place. Start with helping the Evolution team
with their sad excuse of an Exchange plugin.
Here's a suggestion; use EWS instead of a
protocol that's likely to be phased out with
the next release of Exchange, MAPI. Apple got
it right.
jmiller197815th Jun 2009 -
Too funny.....
1% of market share, try again Linux distro's power the Internet period....
Sorry to upset your narrow world but Open Source is the future and Windows monolithic Server will be a distant memory since appliances will be the next caveat....
Christian_<><15th Jun 2009 -
Even funnier...
You instantly consider me to be a Windows fanboy
even though I made no mention of Windows what-so-
ever. And I'm narrow minded, LOL. Don't you
possibly think I was considering the desktop
market which they do hold less than 1%, hmmm?jmiller197815th Jun 2009 -
Why do you assume...
...that these file systems are even meant for the desktop market? It actually looks pretty foolish of you. The Linux ecosystem is much greater than the desktop market. It steps like these that keep Linux ahead in just about every other market besides the desktop.
storm14k15th Jun 2009 -
Wow way to miss the point entirely.
There's only one market linux is ahead, btw.jmiller197815th Jun 2009 -
> Too funny
> Sorry to upset your narrow world but Open
> Source is the future and Windows monolithic
> Server [...]
Open Source has been the future since at least 1995, when I got my first Debian and later on Red Hat distros. It has been future for no less than 15 years, and it's still there. It's like the horizon - the closer you get to it, the further it gets. That specifically applies to the desktop distros. The server distros have managed to establish their presence in the enterprises, and benchmark numbers justify respect for them.
As for the Windows Server called "monolithic", someone missed the last few years of Windows Server technology development. Perhaps that someone was too busy compiling and recompiling customized builds of the kernel until "kernel panic" message no longer appeared during booting... just poking fun.
the_fiddler_on_the_roof30th Aug 2009
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