Stock kernels

[Mike A. Harris]

On 19 Aug 2003, Maynard Kuona wrote:

>But is it the latest available, or do they more or less mirror their own
>kernel.
>
>Is this going to be done with 2.6 in RH10/RHX. f the kernel has shipped
>and they haven't tested it yet, I would really love it if they gave us
>the stock 2.6 before they make any changes.

Changes are not gratuitous however.  We're unlikely to ship 
kernel source code without patches just for the sake of it not 
having patches.  Patches fix bugs, and fixed bugs mean less bug 
reports, which means more time to fix other bugs in other 
software, which in the end translates into a more stable and 
solid product, happier users and customers.

Your best bet might be to compile the kernel from stock sources
yourself, and get the best of both worlds.  You may also want to
experiment with other distributions such as Gentoo, Linux From
Scratch and other similar source based distributions.

It really isn't in the interest of the large community of users
out there for Red Hat Linux to come with raw unpatched software
without any bug fix patches or modifications, especially if bug
fixes and enhancements are known and available already, or are
being developed.

More of a customized thing for a special interest group than a 
generally useful thing IMHO, and people who are interested in 
such things are always encouraged to participate and volunteer, 
as there will likely be others who share their desires as well.

Hope this helps.


-- 
Mike A. Harris     ftp://people.redhat.com/mharris
OS Systems Engineer - XFree86 maintainer - Red Hat