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Linus Torvalds releases Linux kernel 2.4.0-prerelease

Summary

On New Year’s Eve 2000 Linus Torvalds published Linux kernel 2.4.0-prerelease, after originally promising the finished version for 2000. Kernel 2.4.0 was to be the first major update since 2.2.0 of January 1999; Wired had put it at number 4 of its “Vaporware 2000” list. Test versions had been available since May 2000, and USB support had already been backported to 2.2.18.

Ideas

  • Almost two years passed between two major kernel versions.
  • Public test versions ran for months before the release.
  • Important functions made it into the stable series in advance.
  • iptables brought a packet filter with considerably finer rules than ipchains from kernel 2.2.

Insights

  • Long development cycles create pressure and mockery until the model is changed.
  • Backports bring sought-after functions to users earlier.

Facts

  • The last test version before the prerelease was 2.4.0-test12 from mid-December 2000.
  • Wired listed kernel 2.4 at number 4 of “Vaporware 2000”.

References

Critique

  • The report puts the delay in the foreground; new features such as iptables only come at the end.

Remarks

  • Since Linux 2.6, kernels have appeared at a fixed rhythm of about nine to ten weeks instead of after years-long development phases.
  • iptables shaped Linux firewalls for almost two decades until nftables replaced it.

Recommendations

  • Only announce dates when the state of the work realistically allows it.
  • Use test versions to report hardware problems before the final release.

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