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g · Linux & UnixCurated

Linux kernel 2.2.0 finally completed

Summary

In January 1999, after almost two years of development, Linus Torvalds released Linux kernel 2.2.0. The most important new feature was considerably better support for multiprocessor systems, among other things through better handling of Intel’s APIC and shared resources. There were also IPv6, Video4Linux for TV cards such as the BT848, and the now integrated Open Sound System.

Ideas

  • Multiprocessor operation was possible in 2.0, but inefficient and experimental.
  • Better interrupt handling and finer locking increased SMP performance.
  • Drivers for TV cards and sound became a permanent part of the kernel.
  • IPv6 had already arrived in the kernel in 1999.

Insights

  • Linux 2.2 made Linux competitive on multiprocessor servers.
  • Integrating external driver projects into the kernel lowers the barrier to entry for users.

Facts

  • Linux already supported up to 16 processors before, but not very efficiently.
  • Video4Linux supported, among others, the widespread BT848 TV cards.
  • Memory management was also thoroughly reworked, which was expected to benefit computers with a lot of RAM.

References

Critique

  • The report gives no measurements for the promised SMP improvement.

Recommendations

  • On multi-core systems, check whether applications and kernel actually use the cores efficiently.
  • Prefer hardware whose drivers are maintained in the mainline kernel.
  • Before changing kernels, check which libraries and system programs your distribution needs to update for it.

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