* Production 2.6 kernel expected Q1 2004
The Linux 2.6 kernel last week took a step closer to production, as Linux creator Linus Torvalds released a beta version of the code for the open source community to test.
The release of the 2.6 code essentially puts a stop to the development of new features for the new kernel, which means developers can get to work debugging and fine-tuning the features that will eventually be in the next-generation Linux.
Enterprise Linux users will see many of the new features in the production 2.6 kernel, which is expected to arrive in the first quarter of 2004.
Among the features being packed into Version 2.6 is support for embedded processors. While the Linux 2.4 kernel has undergone many tweaks in order for it to run on small devices, 2.6 will consolidate this work, allowing the Linux code to run on platforms from such embedded system makers as Motorola, Lineo, NEC and Hitachi. You could probably expect to see an even bigger wave of small devices, from PDAs to network appliances, running Linux down the road.
Also new to 2.6 will be support for Non-uniform Memory Access (NUMA), a server technology used on some of the largest multi-processor systems. NUMA allows processors in a server to access pools of memory in separate banks. This allows processors to draw from memory that is closest to the chip, rather than in standard symmetrical multiprocessing, where processors draw on a common shared pool of RAM. Support for NUMA could put Linux in some of the biggest Iron servers the operating system has seen.
Wireless is another development in 2.6 that users should keep an eye on. While wireless support – whether it be 802.11, Bluetooth or infrared – has been developed for Linux over time, the 2.6 kernel will organize and compile wireless support into a common subsystem and API. This development could allow wireless applications to be developed more easily for Linux, and also make Linux-based machines better at roaming in a 802.11 infrastructure.
