>
> Let me reiterate some things that happened to me recently:
>
> 2.2.7 came out, I untarred the distribution, it did not compile. I
> had to fix some trivial things that _anyone_ must have seen who
> tried to compile the kernel, like an include file that was not
> included somewhere. I cannot understand how a kernel like this can
> even be put on an FTP site without even trying to compile it on all
> platforms.
That's where we, who are not kernel developers but like to run the
latest kernels come in. Where do you think these kernels come from?
They don't grow on trees; People work hard to produce them. I would
prefer to see the kernel developers coding rather than wasting large
amounts of time testing every config option. It is the responsibility
of the rest of us to submit useful bug reports, and better yet, patches
for problems. It works both ways, you see. You get to use the
collective work of the kernel developers, essentially for free, but when
something fails it is *your* responsibility to do your part to at least
submit a bug report. And submitting a bug report requires no particular
skill, so anyone can do it. Granted, on an officially stable kernel,
compile errors should not occur, but if they do it is simply because
either no one (that means us) bothered to try out the pre series of
kernels leading up to it and report the problem. So when a stable
kernel is released that has problems, it is *our* fault, because we
could have prevented it but didn't bother.
> Anyway, 2.2.7 compiled with minor massaging, but randomly hung at
> boot time with a "spinlock stuck" message. I tried to get rid of
> that and tried to install 2.2.8. It would not compile. 2.2.9. It
> would not compile. I then switched to 2.3.6-ac1 that actually
> compiled.
See above.
> 2. I have a laptop. pcmcia is a vital kernel part for laptop users.
> And frankly, I cannot understand why this is not part of the
> standard kernel. I marvel at the quick turnaround time of the
> pcmcia guy at stanford who manages to adapt to kernel problems
> within hours after the new kernel comes out. Anyway, once it
> didn't work. Again, the semantics of something changed.
Linus has put his foot down on this issue and we should see at least
basic cardbus support in the kernel shortly. :-)
> 4. FAT. 2.3.7 does not compile with FAT file system. Excuse me?
> This is the single most frequently used file system besides ext2,
> and 2.3.7 does not compile with it? Because of a syntax error?!
Details? Details are the difference between a rant and something
helpful, useful, and constructive. Also, does it really surprise you
that a development kernel in general, and one in which *major* changes
have been made and well publicized, in particular, might have some
problems in the areas directly involved in the changes.
> 5. Modules. I get unresolved symbols every other kernel. Does nobody
> try to compile everything in once and everything as module once
> before releasing a kernel? Yes, that is work. But how can you
> tell Ziff Davis that Linux is a professional enterprise-ready
> operating system if blunders like these happen?
>
See above.
> Management summary: stuff like this sucks. I am but a programmer with a
> SMP box that likes to run the latest kernel. And yes, I expect all the
> kernels to compile out of the box. I don't think that this is too much
> to ask.
It is not too much to expect other people to give you something that you
want, without your incurring even minimal responsibilities?
>
> Nowadays, people do not compile their kernels anymore. Their
> distribution comes with a kernel, and they use that one. This shields
> us and Linux from most of the blame, since people think it's their fault
> if the new kernel does not compile.
It is, in the final analysis. It is so easy to simply expect the kernel
developers to do *all* of the work, since they have already done all
that they have done.
Alas, no good deed goes unpunished...
Sincerely,
Steve Bergman
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