KernelNewbies:

TableOfContents()

Important things (AKA: ''the cool stuff'')

GFS2

GFS2 is a clustering filesystem developed mainly by Red Hat (after [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/12/18/red_hat_sweetens_q3/ purchasing Sistina] and opening the source code). It's not the first: OCFS2, another clustering filesystem developed by Oracle, was already merged in [http://kernelnewbies.org/Linux_2_6_16 Linux 2.6.16]. Clustering filesystems allow to share a filesystem between several machines with no compromises. GFS includes his own DLM (distributed locking manager) and a userspace API interface for that DLM.

Like OCFS2 and like any other filesystem that wants to be merged in the linux kernel, GFS2 developers asked for submission long time ago. They were asked to fix things (even considering that GFS2 had already been developed at Sistina and it was already a stable final product), they submitted it again, they were asked to fix more things, and so on, for a long period of time. Their developers have fixed every thing they were asked to fix. Because of their hard work, GFS2 is now ready to be merged, nobody oposes to it, and everyone is happy, there're no flames or accusations anywhere. Amazing, isn't? In fact, 3 new filesystems are being merged in 2.6.19.

[http://sources.redhat.com/cluster/ GFS2 project page]; Source code [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=tree;f=fs/gfs2 for GFS2] (840 KB) and [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=tree;f=fs/dlm for the DLM] (384 KB)

EXT 4

EXT 4 is a evolution (not a redesign) of EXT3

http://lwn.net/Articles/187321/ http://lwn.net/Articles/203915/ [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=tree;f=fs/jbd2 JBD2], [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=tree;f=fs/ext4 EXT 4]

ECRYPTFS

Coming from IBM, ecryptfs aims to bring "enterprise level" file encryption to the masses.

"Oh no, another filesystem!". No, Ecryptfs is not a traditional filesystem: it doesn't implements his own disk format. From [http://lwn.net/Articles/156921/ this LWN article]:

The eCryptfs developers took the stacking approach, meaning that, rather than implement its own platter-level format, eCryptfs sits on top of another filesystem. It is, essentially, a sort of translation layer which makes encrypted file capabilities available. The system administrator can thus create encrypted filesystems on top of whatever filesystem is in use locally, or even over a network-mounted filesystem. [...] Rather than encrypt the filesystem as a whole, eCryptfs deals with each file individually

(Reading the rest of the [http://lwn.net/Articles/156921 LWN article] is recommended. There's also a [http://www.linuxsymposium.org/2005/linuxsymposium_procv1.pdf Ecryptfs paper from the 2005 Ottawa Symposium] - page 209 and onwards)

Is it better to encrypt the whole disk using cryptoloop/dmcrypt, or use ecryptfs? You decide. Ecryptfs avoids the overhead of a fully encrypted filesystem by only encrypting the files you really want to encrypt, and it also allows to encrypt different files in different ways. Ecryptfs tries to make file encryption available in a easy way for the masses. It "aims to combine the flexibility of GnuPG encryption with the transparency of a kernel service" [...] "Think of eCryptfs as a sort of 'gnupgfs'". If you're interested, you will find the userspace tools and more information available in the [http://ecryptfs.sourceforge.net/ ecryptfs sourceforge site]. You can also read the [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=blob;f=Documentation/ecryptfs.txt Ecryptfs documentation] and the [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=237fead619984cc48818fe12ee0ceada3f55b012 Ecryptfs code] (232 KB).

Libata PATA (Parallel ATA) merge

By "Parallel ATA" we mean all the ATA/IDE controllers and drives that we have been using for years before SATA. Almost from the start, one of the objectives of some kernel hackers was to [http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=linux-kernel&m=115514409104283&w=2 replace the IDE drivers available in drivers/ide] (everything under the "Device drivers -> ATA/ATAPI/MFM/RLL support" configuration menu) with a reimplementation on top of libata (i.e.: the "SATA layer"). Drivers/ide suffers from many ugly and obscure problems, and re-implementing it on top of libata has been much easier than fixing the unfixable drivers/ide mess - most of the porting work has been done by Alan Cox (a consequence of this PATA merge is that libata and all its SATA drivers have also been moved from drivers/scsi (available in the "Device drivers -> SCSI device support -> SCSI low-level drivers" submenu) to drivers/ata (now "Device drivers -> Serial ATA (prod) and Parallel ATA (experimental) drivers"), and all the CONFIG_SCSI_FOOBAR options for the individual SATA drivers have been changed to CONFIG_FOOBAR, so this means you may need to reconfigure your SATA configuration options)

This means 2.6.19 may have two drivers for your PATA-base device: The old IDE driver under "Device drivers -> ATA/ATAPI/MFM/RLL support" and an alternative driver under "Device drivers -> Serial ATA (prod) and Parallel ATA (experimental) drivers" (along with the rest of the SATA drivers)

What one must you choose? Well, the safe option is using the old driver: The old drivers will continue working just as they did before. There'll be no changes if you continue using the old drivers.

What do the new libata-base PATA drivers offer to you?

Eventually, the new libata-based PATA drivers will get more stable, so the old drivers in drivers/ide may get deleted as the new drivers fulfill all needs of the IDE users and becomes feature-complete. But this certainly won't happen anytime soon. No old drivers will be deleted if there's not a working libata-based replacement. You can read the latest [http://zeniv.linux.org.uk/~alan/IDE/STATUS.txt status report] written by Alan Cox. It'd certainly be useful if you could give it a try and report back how well it works to linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org or bugzilla.kernel.org - even if it works fine, it'll be useful to know what systems do work (be sure to include the necessary information mentioned in the previous status report). [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=tree;f=drivers/ata (libata PATA code)]

Removal of selected OSS drivers

Since 2.6 was released, ALSA has been the "official" sound subsystem. OSS drivers were kept for compatibility - ALSA also implements a OSS compatibility layer. However, there's a big number of ALSA drivers and OSS drivers targetting exactly the same hardware. Usually, the OSS ones are undermaintained (or no maintained at all). And ALSA already implements OSS compatibility. So....

...it's possible to remove old OSS drivers, as long as there's a equivalent ALSA driver, and as long as that driver has no regressions that don't allow users to migrate (drivers with no ALSA equivalent or with know regressions have NOT been deleted). In 2.6.19, those OSS drivers are being removed. If when migrating users find something wrong in the ALSA drivers, they should report it in the [https://bugtrack.alsa-project.org ALSA bug tracking system] and work with developers to fix them. Yes, we know there're users that feel just fine with the OSS drivers, but it doesn't helps to the kernel to keep those old drivers around. By forcing people to migrate to ALSA drivers, the ALSA drivers will be improved and fixed. Overall, the linux sound subsystem will only get better. Many thanks to all the hackers that coded them.

A total of 1.79 MB of OSS drivers will be removed. To see a list of source files being removed, see [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=d56b9b9c464a10ab1ee51a4c6190a2b57b8ef7a6 the commit link]. Hardware that is forced to use ALSA drivers include:

AVR32 Architecture

2.6.19 adds support for the Atmel AVR32 architecture, implemented and supported by Atmel Corporation.

AVR32 is a new high-performance 32-bit RISC microprocessor core, designed for cost-sensitive embedded applications, with particular emphasis on low power consumption and high code density. The AVR32 architecture description, including the instruction set, can be found in the [http://www.atmel.com/dyn/resources/prod_documents/doc32000.pdf AVR32 Architecture Manual]. The Atmel AT32AP7000 is the first CPU implementing the AVR32 architecture; it features a 7-stage pipeline, 16KB instruction and data caches and a full Memory Management Unit and a large set of integrated peripherals ([http://www.atmel.com/dyn/resources/prod_documents/doc32003.pdf full data sheet]); while the CPU core implementation including caches and MMU is documented by the [http://www.atmel.com/dyn/resources/prod_documents/doc32001.pdf AVR32 AP Technical Reference]. Information about the AT32STK1000 development board can be found [http://www.atmel.com/dyn/products/tools_card.asp?tool_id=3918 here], including a BSP CD image, development tools (binaries and source/patches) and a root filesystem image suitable for booting from SD card. Alternatively, there's a preliminary "getting started" guide available at http://avr32linux.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/GettingStarted which provides links to the sources and patches you will need in order to set up a cross-compiling environment for avr32-linux

Source code can be found [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=tree;f=arch/avr32 here (arch/av32)]

Parallel device probing

(Disabled by default). Most of the boot time speeds up are in userspace, but some minor improvements can be done in the kernel. Until now Linux (and most, if not all the other OS - if there's another OS doing this it'd be interesting to hear about it) when booting take a secuential approach: One device is probed, initializated, etc, after other, then the next subsystem is intializated, a driver is loaded, it detects the device, another driver is loaded, etc etc.

This can cause some minor delays. For example, in the good old days when linux users were real men and didn't use bootsplash and didn't silented their dmesg outputs, you could see a small delay in the IDE driver when probing for disks. This is not a misfeature in the IDE driver, this was a requeriment of IDE. SCSI is even worse - probing for disk can take as much as 30 seconds, 1 minute, or even more! Other small delays can happen in other devices - for example, some devices may require a firmware upload or they may just need some seconds to power up. In embedded devices, this kind of delays can make bootup slower.

This situation is suboptimal. In 2.6.19, the code has changed to allow parallel device probing. The drivers continue working as always, but the kernel won't wait for the driver to finish its work. Instead, the kernel will continue initializating other drivers and subsystems, and will wait for them to finish when it has to run init. In multiprocessor systems, drivers may be initializated in another CPU while the rest of the kernels runs in the the main one.

However this feature is experimental, and for now it's only supported by the PCI subsystem. Some PCI drivers can not properly handle running in this way, and others might decide to blow up power supplies with a huge load all at once, so use this option at your own risk. [http://lwn.net/Articles/201111/ (LWN article)]

[http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=d779249ed4cb3b50690de6de8448829d65a1cd08 (commit)], [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=0f397f865076e3471ec884ee73ad5e34165fac2a (commit)]

Sleepable RCU (Read Copy Update)

[http://lwn.net/Articles/202847/ (LWN article by Paul McKenney, who implemented it)]

Like in spinlocks, RCU read-side critical sections were prohibited. However, many people had frequently requested a "sleepable RCU". Furthermore, the realtime capabilities beind developed in the -rt patch required that those critical sections were preemptible. So a RCU variant permitting read-side blocking has been developed, and a SRCU-base notifier chain has also been merged [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=621934ee7ed5b073c7fd638b347e632c53572761 (commit)], [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=eabc069401bcf45bcc3f19e643017bf761780aa8 (commit)]

Other stuff

Arch-independent changes in the kernel core

[http://lwn.net/Articles/197299/ (LWN article)]

* Single bit flip detector. In cases where we detect a single bit has been flipped, we spew the usual slab corruption message, which users instantly think is a kernel bug. In a lot of cases, single bit errors are down to bad memory, or other hardware failure, so suggest users to run memtest86 [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=aa83aa40ed2ae113d9ee5529cdd9e8c0e5fabe61 (commit)]

* lockdep: core, add enable/disable_irq_irqsave/irqrestore() APIs [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=e8106b941ceab68cc5ff713df7b1276484554584 (commit)]

* Generic boolean. The kernel hackers have finally surrended at it. $DEITY help us! ;-) [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=6e21828743247270d09a86756a0c11702500dbfb (commit)]

* Directed yield: cpu_relax variants for spinlocks and rw-locks. On systems running with virtual cpus there is optimization potential in regard to spinlocks and rw-locks. If the virtual cpu that has taken a lock is known to a cpu that wants to acquire the same lock it is beneficial to yield the timeslice of the virtual cpu in favour of the cpu that has the lock (directed yield) [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=ef6edc9746dc2bfdacf44eefd5f881179971c478 (commit)], [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=cdc39363d33506b0e067d41fc91f89d186bdf7f7 (commit)], [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=3c1fcfe229e99752c74efb945a4a3f560be04204 (commit)]

* Generic ioremap_page_range [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=74588d8ba34ff1bda027cfa737972af01ab00c8b (commit)], [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=db71daabad0821996483dfe309c4bc81d6755a70 (commit)]; cris [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=e32cbc3df44838cc93a679aca3561f75b4964c57 (commit)], alpha [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=801f92ad5a0c630646f6746f3ed1663fcab185d1 (commit)], mr32 [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=9540fc42305859705b0232a10c8dec3ad866bd40 (commit)], avr32 [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=86c8eb360daa6286e3f9bd32a22e5d9c69e86dd1 (commit)], x86-64 [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=16c564bb3cdecbc39eab5c0de3fe94ed58ba4163 (commit)], i386 [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=a148ecfdf04d5fcb840324eef45d63ed674c73b9 (commit)]

* EISA bus MODALIAS attributes support [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=07563c711fbc25389e58ab9c9f0b9de2fce56760 (commit)]

* Debug variants of linked list macros [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=199a9afc3dbe98c35326f1d3907ab94dae953a6e (commit)] * list_del debug check [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=df89a864631f5d840f4873c4c03733b4206e78ea (commit)] * add CONFIG_ENABLE_MUST_CHECK [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=cebc04ba9aeb3a646cc746300421fc0e5aa4f253 (commit)]

* csa: This patch is to change those ifdef's from CONFIG_BSD_PROCESS_ACCT to CONFIG_TASK_XACCT [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=8f0ab5147951267134612570604cf8341901a80c (commit)]

csa: Extended system accounting over taskstats [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=9acc1853519a0473620d424105f9d49ea5b4e62e (commit)] csa accounting taskstats update [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=db5fed26b2e0beed939b773dd5896077a1794d65 (commit)]

* Support piping into commands in /proc/sys/kernel/core_pattern [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=d025c9db7f31fc0554ce7fb2dfc78d35a77f3487 (commit)]

* Linux Kernel Dump Test Module, a simple module to test Linux Kernel Dump mechanism that allows users to crash their kernel in different ways. Linux is getting so good, we need a kernel module to remember the old days [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=8bb31b9d5340ed3dfef45d322f59fcf18a0d598b (commit)]

* kconfig/menuconfig: lxdialog is now built-in: lxdialog was previously called as an external program causing screen to flicker when used. With this patch lxdialog is now built-in [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=2982de6993e6d9944f2215d7cb9b558b465a0c99 (commit)], add support for color themes and add blackbg theme [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=458972132a705c4a869002354f7f10f395d08c18 (commit)], add a new theme bluetitle which is now default [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=350b5b76384e77bcc58217f00455fdbec5cac594 (commit)], support resize [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=c8dc68ad0fbd934e78e913b8a8d7b45945db4930

* Implement the epoll_pwait system call, that extend the event wait mechanism with the same logic ppoll and pselect do. The definition of epoll_pwait is: int epoll_pwait(int epfd, struct epoll_event *events, int maxevents, int timeout, const sigset_t *sigmask, size_t sigsetsize); [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=b611967de4dc5c52049676c4369dcac622a7cdfe (commit)]

* Add a dynamic irq creation API. With the msi support comes a new concept in irq handling, irqs that are created dynamically at run time. To solve the basic dynamic irq allocation problem two new architecture specific functions are added: create_irq and destroy_irq [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=3a16d713626735f3016da0521b7bf251cd78e836 (commit)], [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=3fc471ede99579211c44b6a64829c4318976990f (commit)], [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=c4fa0bbf384496ae4acc0a150719d9d8fa8d11b3 (commit)], [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=b6cf2583ba026ca563ff8b15805fcf30b8e192a7 (commit)]

* dm: add target preresume [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=8757b7764f13e336f3c0eb1f634440d4ee4c3a67 (commit)]. * md: the scheduled removal of the START_ARRAY ioctl for md [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=fbedac04fa11d7f9f9f425c7ec253f55becaae57 (commit)] * dm linear: support ioctls [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=ab17ffa440cb54ca64111fa4922ba12496fcc8af (commit)] * dm mpath: support ioctls [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=9af4aa30b713a58e5952045f52c41a6e3baa2fdc (commit)] * dm: add uevent change event on resume [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=8560ed6fa8d43537af558514fa48f670b3349f08 (commit)] * dm crypt: add key msg [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=e48d4bbf9697f4fee4f4e48c5e2586b332809519 (commit)] * md: new sysfs interface for setting bits in the write-intent-bitmap [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=9b1d1dac181d8c1b9492e05cee660a985d035a06 (commit)] (commit)]

* NOMMU: make futexes work under NOMMU conditions [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=930e652a21a08986b03d1f370f933057dc0db2dc (commit)], implement /proc/pid/maps for NOMMU [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=dbf8685c8e21404e3a8ed244bd0219d3c4b89101 (commit)], make mremap() partially work for NOMMU kernels [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=6fa5f80bc34da1a49b42117602b44441402cac2f (commit)]

* kdump: introduce "reset_devices" command line option. This option can be used by drivers to know that user forcibly wants the devices to be reset during initialization [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=7e96287ddc4f42081e18248b6167041c0908004c (commit)]

* LSM: remove BSD secure level security module [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=3bc1fa8ae18f281b40903cce94baba10c3cf9d88 (commit)] * Introduce kmemdup [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=1a2f67b459bb7846d4a15924face63eb2683acc2 (commit)]

* NTP: Convert to the NTP4 reference model [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=f19923937321244e7dc334767eb4b67e0e3d5c74 (commit)]

* Create a call_usermodehelper_pipe() function that allows to pipe data to the stdin of the called user mode program [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=e239ca540594cff00adcce163dc332b27015d8e5 (commit)]

* 32-bit compatibility HDIO IOCTLs [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=39484e53bb00f55b6303a908070db133608ef2a5 (commit)]

* introduce kernel_execve, the use of execve() in the kernel is dubious, since it relies on the KERNEL_SYSCALLS mechanism that stores the result in a global errno variable [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=6760856791c6e527da678021ee6a67896549d4da (commit)], [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=fe74290d51bc08e9b90ed7c145d74a22cd50b90e (commit)], [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=821278a75d270048e291fcbec9304439a176ba88 (commit)], [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=135ab6ec8fdad6f61aabe53f456821baf4a4aa0e (commit)], [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=3db03b4afb3ecd66a0399b8ba57742ca953b0ecd (commit)], [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=5f4c6bc1f369f20807a8e753c2308d1629478c61 (commit)]

* schedule removal of FUTEX_FD [http://www.kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=19c6b6ed3f597a583f58e3fc99256cc01ae8c394 (commit)]

Architecture-specific changes

Filesystems

SELinux

Networking

* [IPV4]: Use Protocol Independant Policy Routing Rules Framework: [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=e1ef4bf23b1ced0bf78a1c98289f746486e5c912 (commit)]

* [NetLabel]: core network changes: Changes to the core network stack to support the NetLabel subsystem. This

[http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=11a03f78fbf15a866ba3bf6359a75cdfd1ced703 (commit)]

* [NET]: Replace CHECKSUM_HW by CHECKSUM_PARTIAL/CHECKSUM_COMPLETE: Replace CHECKSUM_HW by CHECKSUM_PARTIAL (for outgoing packets, whose

Patch originally from Herbert Xu, updated by myself for 2.6.18-rc3.

[http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=84fa7933a33f806bbbaae6775e87459b1ec584c0 (commit)]

* Add the framework to support multiple IPv6 routing tables [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=c71099acce933455123ee505cc75964610a209ad (commit)]

* [NETFILTER]: Get rid of HW checksum invalidation: Update hardware checksums incrementally to avoid breaking GSO.

[http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=4cf411de49c65140b3c259748629b561c0d3340f (commit)]

* Extend netlink messaging interface [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=fe4944e59c357f945f81bc67edb7ed1392e875ad (commit)]

* Protocol Independant Policy Routing Rules Framework [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=14c0b97ddfc2944982d078b8e33b088840068976 (commit)]

* [IPV6]: Policy Routing Rules: Adds support for policy routing rules including a new

[http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=101367c2f8c464ea96643192673aa18d88e6336d (commit)]

* [NET]: Round out in-kernel sockets API: This patch implements wrapper functions that provide a convenient way

[http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=ac5a488ef252ed673cb067843e411f8cc43f7ab9 (commit)]

* [IPV6]: Increase number of possible routing tables to 232: Increase number of possible routing tables to 232 by replacing iterations

[http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=1b43af5480c351dbcb2eef478bafe179cbeb6e83 (commit)]

* [XFRM] STATE: Introduce route optimization mode.: Route optimization is used with routing header and destination options

At outbound it makes header space like IPsec transport. At inbound it does nothing because exhdrs.c functions have responsibility to update skbuff information for these headers.

[http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=1d71627d699eca831c1fbfb66ea67bb1fba41415 (commit)]

* [IPV4]: Increase number of possible routing tables to 232: Increase the number of possible routing tables to 232 by replacing the

[http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=1af5a8c4a11cfed0c9a7f30fcfb689981750599c (commit)]

* [DECNET]: Increase number of possible routing tables to 232: Increase the number of possible routing tables to 232 by replacing the

[http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=abcab268303c22d24fc89fedd35d82271d20f5da (commit)]

* replace IPv4 dscp match by address family independent (x_tables) version [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=9ba1627617d396135a4d679542a3623d5819e628 (commit)]

* replace IPv4 DSCP target by address family independent (x_tables) version [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=a468701db58a8b3e08e3f55fa6ac66db42014922 (commit)]

* [XFRM] POLICY: Add Kconfig to support sub policy.: Add Kconfig to support sub policy.

[http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=c11f1a15c522ddd3bbd2c32b5ce3e0b1831b22f2 (commit)]

* [DCCP]: Introduce tx buffering [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=97e5848dd39e7e76bd6077735ebb5473763ab9c5 (commit)]

* [XFRM] POLICY: sub policy support [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=4e81bb8336a0ac50289d4d4c7a55e559b994ee8f (commit)]

* [IPV6] NDISC: Add proxy_ndp sysctl [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=fbea49e1e2404baa2d88ab47e2db89e49551b53b (commit)]

* [IPV6]: Add Kconfig to enable Mobile IPv6 [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=ee53826801a8fa7a0e333895421ef6d0e5fbfbf0 (commit)]

* [IPV6] ADDRCONF: Mobile IPv6 Home Address support [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=3b9f9a1c3903b64c38505f9fed3bb11e48dbc931 (commit)]

* [IPV6] KCONFIG: Add subtrees support [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=4e96c2b4180aff4f080b77314712073c6ca430e7 (commit)]

* [TCP]: make cubic the default http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=597811ec167fa01c926a0957a91d9e39baa30e64 (commit)]

* [TCP]: default congestion control menu [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=3d2573f7ebe507e372a23cdd3c8b03305d6e90aa (commit)]

* [NETFILTER]: ebt_mark: add or/and/xor action support to mark target [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=b18dfa90c008850e0f3bfd63638dd8fbe8e08701 (commit)]

* [XFRM]: BEET (Bound End-to-End Tunnel) mode with as specified by [http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-nikander-esp-beet-mode-06.txt this ietf draft] [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=0a69452cb45add0841c2bc1e75c25f6bd4f1d8d9 (commit)]

* [PKTGEN]: DSCP support [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=1ca7768c87ac1393228857d576654f7e84c8cee6 (commit)], allow pktgen to produce 802.1Q and Q-in-Q tagged frames [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=34954ddc4f3e790fb6d5ed331513f54b38713234 (commit)]

* [SCTP]: Enable Nagle algorithm by default [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=208edef6a5b6c50363c77efcf34c4b4020681029 (commit)]

* [TIPC]: Added subscription cancellation capability [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=eb409460b1abec0e2a1f9c9d07019f4157a6d6bc (commit)], add support for Ethernet VLANs [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=3a8d12142eab420ffcbbf3d1d2e637158e85aab8 (commit)], added duplicate node address detection capability [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=e91ed0bcdfc4812c0342d64281ee985213df07c3 (commit)]

Crypto

CPUFREQ

* add powersave_bias tunable. ondemand selects the minimum frequency that can retire a workload with negligible idle time -- ideally resulting in the highest performance/power efficiency with negligible performance impact. But on some systems and some workloads, this algorithm is more performance biased than necessary, and de-tuning it a bit to allow some performance impact can save measurable power. This patch adds a "powersave_bias" tunable to ondemand to allow it to reduce its target frequency by a specified percent. By default, the powersave_bias is 0 and has no effect. powersave_bias is in units of 0.1%, so it has an effective range of 1 through 1000, resulting in 0.1% to 100% impact. In practice, users will not be able to detect a difference between 0.1% increments, but 1.0% increments turned out to be too large. Also, the max value of 1000 (100%) would simply peg the system in its deepest power saving P-state, unless the processor really has a hardware P-state at 0Hz:-)

[http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=05ca0350e8caa91a5ec9961c585c98005b6934ea (commit)]

* Longhaul - Disable arbiter [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=179da8e6e8903a8cdb19bb12672d50dc33f0fde6 (commit)], add voltage scaling to driver [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=db44aaf3a2f599163c53ce96658aca688b3466f0 (commit)] * Longhaul - Add ignore_latency option [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=6595413fc9453a211f4b5d5cc42f0bbf3daa615b (commit)]

Drivers and other subsystems

Video

USB

Input devices

Sound

libata/IDE

V4L/DVB

Network drivers

SCSI drivers

Various drivers

* [MTD] physmap: add power management support [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=17c2dae3aaff9b1e5d83996a5f098ad693f3aeca (commit)]

* [MTD] Remove iq80310 map driver [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=e417fcfb857b809e5dabc9b252ad70f090d553d1 (commit)]

* [MTD] Add SSFDC (SmartMedia) read-only translation layer [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=51197abf29657373bcf9803d87da3c3d8fc3a37e (commit)]

* AVR32 MTD: Static Memory Controller driver [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=bc157b75960f1f33566074e820342690216629b9 (commit)]

* AVR32 MTD: AT49BV6416 platform device for ATSTK1000 [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=2514183dff2d5282cb745af34f56d1b98e5b2df8 (commit)]

* RDMA: iWARP Connection Manager [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=922a8e9fb2e0711212badce47a41137e2ca04cb3 (commit)], add a driver for the Ammasso 1100 gigabit ethernet RNIC [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=f94b533d091a42da92d908eb7b3f9ade1923f90d (commit)], add driver for IBM eHCA InfiniBand adapters [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=fab97220c9e409a98b1956ba677ddd2dd43b0b95 (commit)], performance improvements via mmap of queues [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=373d9915803aebbbf7fd3841efd9dac31c32e148 (commit)], support revision 2 InfiniPath PCIE devices [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=2c9446a1d63f1ca570e92f89422595732efedf44 (commit)], support new PCIE device, QLE7142 [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=bf3258ec418a008ab4672787ebff2c5837dd1e69 (commit)], driver support for userspace sharing of HW contexts [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=9929b0fb0f35f54371e9364bab809bcd753f9d3a (commit)]

* rtc: New RTC driver for SuperH On-Chip RTC [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=317a6104a99f87c0b35c0d9f19ec23ee7429b33e (commit)]

* hwmon: Add fan speed control features to w83627ehf [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=08c79950a047dbaccf05d70a203db2ee75ac3bd8 (commit)]

* it87: Add support for the IT8718F [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=87673dd735b8e089b7f2830edd353aa5f5e743ad (commit)]

* it87: Add support for the IT8716F [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=17d648bf5786ba5b8cbf7cbd5cb18d3d8d2657ca (commit)]

* [TG3]: Add 5709 self-test support.: [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=b16250e3d1c55820f08f0296624a423122ea9805 (commit)]

* hwmon: Add support for the temperature sensor(s) found in AMD K8 CPUs [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=29fa06c1292f473ae51a84f55c8fe22179bc1080 (commit)]

* abituguru: Add suspend/resume support [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=360b9ab220aedaf346380fc2344729d9acc3b075 (commit)]

* [TG3]: Add basic 5906 support [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=b5d3772ccbe0bc5ac8ffbb5356b74ca698aee28c (commit)]

* hwmon: New driver for the VIA VT1211 Super-IO chip [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=ab41319eab3b5e600873dc77dff7756970424ca6 (commit)]

* hwmon: Add individual alarm files to f71805f, lm63, lm83 and lm90 [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=2d45771e6ea79f56a7d85e448f702f60ef86c228 (commit)]

* [TG3] Add support for the 5709 10/100 PHY [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=715116a12610b67c1d301a9b845ce95f7247dad3 (commit)]

* atiixp: ATI SB600 IDE support for various modes [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=2b33b4dcbe5e09e683eef281f72aef951e17061c (commit)]

* hdaps: support Lenovo ThinkPad T60 [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=710b8b5f4341e72a5f5f6fa58d1f73a0db64bf93 (commit)]

* cciss: support for >2TB logical volumes [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=00988a3514bbc0cce781c067cf52559741d88b80 (commit)]

* synclink_gt: add bisync and monosync modes [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=cb10dc9ac7eea2c891df6b79b9ef1fbe59cb5429 (commit)]

* e1000: add multicast stats counters [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=49559854c9ea6d6950631d558d33faff49fa74f3 (commit)]

* au1100fb: Add option to enable/disable the cursor [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=ca27ac4cc6caa73740122a5f3d601c8a27b89e7c (commit)]

* fbdev: Add generic ddc read functionality [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=fc5891c8a3ba284f13994d7bc1f1bfa8283982de (commit)] and port drivers to use it: nvidiafb [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=346bc21026e7a92e1d7a4a1b3792c5e8b686133d (commit)], savagefb [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=946c4eab86cc67dac6021b56f45495f59b3970b4 (commit)], i810fb [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=e80987f8db7b9c33089bb395ed54cb96d55eae04 (commit)], radeonfb [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=7a45093b7caa9d3d5421274b4ba80fba5da17e19 (commit)], rivafb [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=bf5df0a2c54c2dc0fad619ac25d029119023610a (commit)]

* dm: support ioctls on mapped devices [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=aa129a2247b164173d45da8ad43cca5de9211403 (commit)] * [WATCHDOG] iTCO_wdt (Intel TCO Timer) driver [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=9e0ea345ff542320882caa21ec2248e6c02d8b91 (commit)]

* [WATCHDOG] w83697hf WDT driver [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=f9a8c8913a95aed91bfa81f7d4043c6430423bf8 (commit)]

* [WATCHDOG] Winbond SMsC37B787 watchdog driver [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=485ae77dc7f484563707557ccf8c5d228980619f (commit)]

* i2c: New bus driver for TI OMAP boards [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=010d442c4a295a73e90e93c5e42579cee61c5cc7 (commit)] * i2c-viapro: Add support for the VT8237A and VT8251 [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=c243353a90fae3a9a85d2bd79b1df06bb21c568a (commit)]

* OMAP: Add Watchdog driver support [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=7768a13c252a97e13a552f88f642962768de1fa4 (commit)] * OMAP: Add keypad driver [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=ad4e09b16ad361c15bd7186dcd118cb901089b97 (commit)]

* Create a driver to support the platform-specific features of MSI S270 laptops backlight, wlan, bluetooth states [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=8c4c731a89ea6458001f48033f8988447736fb38 (commit)] * asus_acpi: W3000 support [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=288f3ad406460f03642a41bb945826891a7b866f (commit)]

* Remove old drivers/char/s3c2410_rtc.c, since there is now a drivers/rtc/rtc-s3c.c driver [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=d202a6c0883cf17a4a6e61a12e138598ec3ed32d (commit)]

* IPMI: per-channel command registration [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=c69c31270c35a6b8421a8e4ba81de1247ac6df95 (commit)]

* mmc: driver for TI FlashMedia card reader [http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=4020f2d7f0b0e68b92bec9a3e1f4a54a7a9dc672 (commit)], http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=f9565129993446e16678cfc4d9c7f3b7e75eecbd

KernelNewbies: Linux_2_6_19 (last edited 2006-11-08 14:24:58 by diegocalleja)