Kernel Log: Stable kernels analysed, Linux without firmware, new graphics drivers

“The development of Linux 2.6.34 has started and is causing
heated discussions on the LKML. LWN.net has analysed Linux 2.6.32.9
for security fixes and found almost twenty of them. Linux-Libre
removes proprietary files from the kernel, and new graphics drivers
for Radeon cards offer numerous improvements.

“A day after the release of Linux 2.6.33 in the last week of
February, Linus Torvalds started merging the most important changes
for Linux 2.6.34. By last Friday, he had integrated almost five
thousand commits, which has added almost two hundred thousand lines
of code to the kernel. Among the new additions to the kernel are
the drivers for Apple’s Magic Mouse, a Python scripting engine for
the tracing subsystem, and the vhost_net Virtio server designed to
reduce overheads when exchanging data with guest systems via
Virtio.

“The merge window is still open, although this time it might
only last 10 or 12 days instead of the full two weeks – this
is what Torvalds indicated to persuade the subsystem maintainers
not to wait until the last minute with submitting their changes.
However, Torvalds has already criticised a couple of improvements
to SquashFS as well as the patches that integrate the subsystem for
addressing Ambient Light Sensors (ALS) (1, 2); although they were
submitted for 2.6.34, unless Torvalds changes his mind, these two
additions are unlikely to make it into the Linux kernel before
version 2.6.35.”

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