New Year New Kernal

Hello, strangers! Thank you for your patience over the holiday season - though some of you may have had your doubts, the weekly Lockergnome Linux Fanatics newsletter has returned!

On 12/18/03, another Linux milestone was reached: release of the much-anticipated Linux kernel v2.6.0. Released with little fanfare and no marketing budget, the new kernel provides enhanced performance, more support for varied hardware, more stability, and a slew of bug fixes. With 3 days of tweaking, my 2 desktops were up and running with sound, tv card and all. And what do I like best about the new kernel? Its performance. The difference is simply stunning! The computer starts faster; KDE is smoother; Evolution is almost as quick/crisp as Outlook; xawtv (TV watching program) takes up much less processing power than with a generic 2.4.x kernel. In short, the upgrade is spectacular. Unless you are a glutton for punishment (or simply can install/configure a kernel with your eyes closed), my advice is to wait for an updated kernel from your vendor.

I find it hard to believe that developers are not actively working on updating their distributions to the new release. So check the support pages of your chosen distribution (distro) and get ready to upgrade to new levels of performance and usability. I think we should all say or think a special “thank you” to Linus for his work, time and charity.

Linux truly is a gift and let’s receive it in that spirit - with gratitude
and respect. However, we must not forget that Linus is not the *only* developer.
There are thousands who contributed code, tested systems, and provided many
other services. To these people, we also owe a thank you. Thanks to their hard
work and vision, v2.6.0 has the possibility, in my humble opinion (IMHO) to
further the cause of bringing Linux to the desktop. And with the fervent efforts
of KDE, Novell,
and many others, it could become a reality for many more people.

Without further ado, let’s get this newsletter on the road!

Happy Linuxing,
Steve Lanpher