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All going well, the stable release should appear sometime in August.
Introducing the release candidate, Torvalds said it was "right up there with v4.9, which has long been our biggest release by quite a bit in number of commits." That said, the 4.9 kernel was "artificially big" because of a couple of special factors, whereas 5.8 is a "more comprehensive release."
Torvalds said: "The development is really all over the place: there's tons of fairly fundamental core work and cleanups, but there is also lots of filesystem work and obviously all the usual driver updates too. Plus documentation and architecture work." He added: "We have modified about 20 per cent of all the files in the kernel source repository. That's really a fairly big percentage, and while some of it _is_ scripted, on the whole it's really just the same pattern: 5.8 has simply seen a lot of development."
While the code for the kernel is large, only a small part of it ends up in any individual system, since the kernel source contains code for every chip architecture and hardware it supports. In early 2018, maintainer Greg Kroah-Hartman said that "an average laptop uses around 2 million lines of kernel from 5,000 files to function properly." At the time, there were 25 million lines of code in the kernel, whereas now there are over 28 million.
See also: Linux 5.8 Kernel Features Include New Intel/AMD Capabilities, Security Improvements, Optimizations.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday June 16 2020, @03:15PM (35 children)
... we haven't had the year of Linux on desktop.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 4, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday June 16 2020, @03:44PM (17 children)
I dunno about you but I've had the decade or better of it. It's so much fun to be able to tell folks that the last version of Windows I even used enough to be able to tech support it is Windows 7.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday June 16 2020, @03:50PM
Me too.
But not the collective we.
It's even better to tell them I don't support any Windows, tech or not.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Tuesday June 16 2020, @04:46PM (2 children)
Windows free since 1999 (Win XP if memory serves, (SP2?)).
Something like that...my ROM/RAM is faulty....
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by engblom on Tuesday June 16 2020, @09:38PM (1 child)
If you used XP with SP2 you could not have become Windows free 1999. XP became available in late 2001 and SP2 was released 2004.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 17 2020, @03:46AM
Even Windows 2000 hadn't come out yet (It was still NT5 RC0 or so at that time... did it even have CD-ROM/floppy support yet?)
Windows ME was out during that period as well. Hell the Pentium 4s didn't come out until '00 or '01, and it was another year or two before anyone was seriously buying them instead of the Pentium 3/Athlons.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Tuesday June 16 2020, @04:49PM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 16 2020, @05:37PM (2 children)
Your skills are not up to date. Good luck getting a job these days.
(Score: 4, Funny) by bryan on Tuesday June 16 2020, @11:11PM
Supporting Windows has been the same since the very beginning: Reboot. If that doesn't work then: Reformat. It's not like you can see the code to determine the actual problem, let alone change the code to fix it.
On the plus side, relatives tend to bug you less about fixing their computer after you forcefully wipe it a few times.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday June 17 2020, @02:00PM
Wait, was that a joke or are you really that stupid?
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Tuesday June 16 2020, @11:32PM (4 children)
Win95 for me. I am older than you, Buzztard!
And what is this "kernel Colonel" slight? Jealous Microsofties throwing shade at real programmers?
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 17 2020, @03:49AM
Colonel Sanders. Because he's chicken. Laying eggs for the SJWs after his wife and daughter pussywhipped him. Y'know if he ever had a dick to begin with.. I mean given how much time he pisses away on the kernel, maybe he feminist wife was stepping out on him as part of their cuckold play.
You hear that, LINUS TORVALDS YOU CUCK!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 17 2020, @03:56AM (2 children)
Colonel Sanders.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 17 2020, @04:56AM (1 child)
Yes, "Leftenant"! So, Colonel Sanders is a Confederate Icon, much like Forest (not Gump) and David Dunk, and Richard (Dick) Spender? Or, Southern culture in fried chicken? Oh, My, Gawd, Chik-fil-A is a racist, anti-LGTB-tQ organization! But we knew that. '
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 17 2020, @12:17PM
Americans don't add an f to lieutenant.
(Score: 2) by toddestan on Wednesday June 17 2020, @02:02AM (3 children)
That's only one version back, as Windows 8/8.1 might as well not even exist now, especially in the corporate world.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday June 17 2020, @02:03PM (2 children)
True but it's an unsupported by Microsoft version that's not being sold on new computers anymore. As soon as the last of the Win7 boxes die, I'll never have to touch another one.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by toddestan on Wednesday June 17 2020, @10:22PM (1 child)
If you're waiting for the last of the Windows 7 boxes to die, you'll be waiting a long time. I still see Windows XP somewhat regularly.
With that said, I expect most of them will be gone by about 3 years or so, as by then most software vendors will have pulled the plug on Windows 7 support. But that long tail can be really long...
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday June 18 2020, @11:56AM
I'm not worried about corporate ones (pay me enough and I'll support your in-house Windows app running on Windows through cygwin and then wine) and none of the friends and family can go over a decade without a new computer like I can.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Dr Spin on Tuesday June 16 2020, @04:21PM (3 children)
... Be afraid, be very afraid <omenous music>
Warning: Opening your mouth may invalidate your brain!
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday June 16 2020, @04:51PM
I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of the new systemd filesystem!
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 16 2020, @06:13PM (1 child)
You're not as clever as you think you are.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 16 2020, @09:54PM
Fuck off, Lennart, we don't like you.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 16 2020, @04:26PM (1 child)
On the 'desktop' linux is not going anywhere. However, it basically has 'won'. It is pretty much the goto server OS (usually some redhat distro). At least 60% of the phones shipped have a kernel in it. The busybox distro is probably one of the most used distros out there being the core of most IoT devices. Only maybe minux has beat them all. But only because Intel made it the core of their secure environment that is on every desktop/latop/server computer out there.
For desktop work just use windows or mac. They are designed for it and at one point had teams that took it seriously (not so sure about MS anymore). You can use a linux distro if you want. They are quite usable. However, linux is an embedded server product whither we like it or not. However, I find most of the tools are better in windows/mac. In linux they are 'sort of' mostly usable. In some ways those tools are better. But in some instances they are much worse. But that is what is pretty awesome about this. I can pick the tools I like. You know freedom. Locking myself to one platform would be the opposite of that. I can decided to use linux for one task and windows for another and mac for another. It is kind of cool.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 17 2020, @03:57AM
...front.
Go look at the most recent code submissions on minix3.org. The mailing lists too.
Intel may be using Minix in its Management Engine cores, but if you look at contributions or funding back, there is zilch.
Minix, outside of proprietary and toy usage is effectively dead. Tanenbaum might've been right about micro versus monolithic kernels, but he was dead wrong about licenses though. GPL or it will never be shared, unless it's a convenient way to cut maint. costs without impacting security. Since the ME IS security, nothing cost-wise will be released back, or even acknowledged.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by cykros on Tuesday June 16 2020, @04:48PM (4 children)
No, we just had the decade of Linux and Unix on the devices that for most people replaced desktops.
If you wanted the year of the GNU/Linux machine you should have specified.
In any case, with the way the distro design process has been going, by the time the official desktop share is mostly Linux, none of us who care about the transition will want anything to do with Linux anymore anyway.
New goal: year of the TempleOS desktop. 640x400 or bust!
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Tork on Wednesday June 17 2020, @06:46AM (3 children)
Are Android devices really considered 'Linux' when the user is so far abstracted away from it? I realize in this crowd that question might sound snarky, but I'm actually curious. I've used Android devices a handfull of times, the last being maybe five years ago, and I don't recall needing to know anything linuxy or coming away from it with anything new. I realize that's anecdotal, but even when I got my first Macbook I had to mess around in the terminal a little to make my Home and End keys look right. I never made it deeper than whatever the UI provides.
I guess what I'm really asking is if the metric of success counts even if there's no meaningful Open Source development coming from it? As far as I know (corrections welcome!!) none of the UI or the built-in apps Google provides have the source code available. Back in my Slashdot days I understood that was specifically the appeal, especially now that we're seeing the value in keeping abandonware alive.
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 3, Insightful) by takyon on Wednesday June 17 2020, @12:17PM
It's based on the Linux kernel, at least.
The future may look different. There will probably be another attempt to merge smartphone and desktop experiences. Why not run Linux applications on a docked smartphone? Smartphones are coming out with 16 GB of RAM, probably more within the next few years, might as well use it for something.
Google's Chrome OS supports Android and Linux applications, and is now making its way onto tablets like the Lenovo Duet. Their upcoming (?) Fuchsia OS [wikipedia.org] could do the same, although it will be based on a new kernel.
https://www.osnews.com/story/131858/google-details-fuchsia-states-it-is-not-experimental/ [osnews.com]
Smartphone manufacturers are wary of giving Google more power, but they can go their own way, like Samsung with DeX for docking or Tizen for an OS alternative.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday June 17 2020, @02:09PM
You don't need to know much Linuxy stuff to use most Linux distros nowadays. You don't need to pull up a terminal window or edit plaintext conf files regularly for it to be a proper Linux experience anymore.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by cykros on Monday June 22 2020, @05:45PM
Linux IS a kernel. Everything else is software that relies upon it to run. Whether you run sysvinit, upstart, runit, or systemd. Whether you run bash, tcsh, zsh, or csh, it's still Linux. Whether you run XFree86, Xorg, or Wayland (or none of the above), it's still Linux. And yes, whether you run any of these at all, or instead, a userland like Android, as long as it's still the Linux kernel, it's still Linux.
If it weren't, then you wouldn't be able to install a more conventional Linux distribution in a chroot, which is totally a thing people do.
For the easiest fun without bothering to root your phone to take advantage of it being Linux, I'd say check out the Termux app, as it gives you a functioning local terminal with a good few neat tools to interface with the rest of the android system and the ability to write the quick and dirty style scripts we've grown to know and love on the desktop or server.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday June 16 2020, @05:00PM (3 children)
Chromebooks are very popular. Isn't that a Linux desktop?
Chrome OS has been beta testing Linux apps (eg, GIMP, Inkscape, LibreOffice, etc) for a couple years. I believe the end point of this is that there will be a curated "app store" of Linux desktop apps. End users won't know or care that these are Linux apps.
Linux on the desktop may arrive and nobody will even notice.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Tuesday June 16 2020, @05:28PM
If you use Debian/Ubuntu/Mint/... there's long been a curated "app store". Actually, the same is true of Red Hat versions, though it's a different store. Also, I believe, for Gentoo and affiliates, though there it's a source repository. The only exception I can think of off-hand is Slackware, and even there there's a selection of applications available on the system repository. It just doesn't (didn't?) have a package manager.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 16 2020, @08:13PM (1 child)
I heard that it is suspected that MS might be working on making WINE compatibility good enough that they they can just switch over to Linux and not let anyone notice. This would let them cut down on dev costs as they can basically outsource it all. They aren't making their money selling Windows the Plebes anymore so it kinda makes sense.
(Score: 1) by petecox on Tuesday June 16 2020, @11:03PM
The parent post mentioned Chrome OS, which is now collaborating with Parallels to access Windows software.
Windows 10S & their Chromium-based browser could indicate a similar trend toward cloud Windows.
(Score: 2) by FunkyLich on Tuesday June 16 2020, @08:20PM
I am also Linux only when at home, now for some good 6 years. At work I use Windows, but that is because the laptop that was given to me is a Win10 and the documents that people generate are of the MS Office kind. Apart from opening natively the .docx and .xlsx files that come sometimes in email attachment, there is also a Debian VM in which I spend most of the time working, but also to do most anything else that is not dealing with the mentioned above files.
I don't really stress much whether is this the year that the call the Linux Desktop Year, or not. But I do know that such a thing has existed on my computer for some 10 years now. And also on my parent's computer for the last 4 years. They use that computer for mostly browsing around, reading emails, generating simple documents for their own use through OpenOffice and printing them if needed.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 16 2020, @09:05PM
'Cause I have workstations. Since '95. I do miss Free Cell though.
"Desktop" Ha ha ha ha.