back to article Bigger than big: Linux kernel colonel Torvalds claims 5.8 is 'one of our biggest releases of all time'

Linus Torvalds has said that version 5.8 of the Linux kernel is "one of our biggest releases of all time". 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 …

  1. Paratrooping Parrot
    Boffin

    Hence why he got

    the Ryzen Threadripper CPU.

    1. Paul Herber Silver badge

      Re: Hence why he got

      I thought Ryzen Threadripper was a TV presenter.

      1. Joe W Silver badge

        Re: Hence why he got

        Nah, a weaver who recently migrated to my fort. A short, sturdy creature fond of drink.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Less Is Sometimes More ?

    I must be old school since I still think the following words of wisdom from C.A.R. Hoare to be relevant here: "There are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies. The first method is far more difficult."

    Obviously new features are being added to a complicated structure but overall (and being slightly cynical) either what came before was not up to the job or some the new stuff is bloatware ! (as in New Improved washing powder type claim every few years).

    Something has to give eventually - at the current rate Linus will likely run out of local disk space for the kernel source code in 10 to 15 years time ?

    1. m4r35n357 Bronze badge

      Re: Less Is Sometimes More ?

      Someone obviously doesn't understand how hardware support works . . .

    2. Nutria

      Re: Less Is Sometimes More ?

      Apparently you didn't read Greg Kroah-Hartman's quote about what a small fraction of the kernel that any one system actually uses (because the kernel has a REALLY modular design).

      1. aberglas

        Re: Less Is Sometimes More ?

        Having a vast amount of code that is not normally used hardly gives one a good feeling about a well disciplined design process. Maybe a lot of it is device drivers for obscure devices, but even then one wonders.

        Having lots of #ifs or optional modules does not make for easy understanding.

  3. Pete 2 Silver badge

    Bigger! Newer!! Better???

    > accelerator support for the Habana Labs Gaudi AI Training Processor – this last one mentioned by Torvalds as accounting for a large chunk of new code.

    I have to say, none of this makes me want to rush out and upgrade.

    1. eldel

      Re: Bigger! Newer!! Better???

      Actually this sort of 'major upgrade' makes me very happy. It essentially means that the underlying structure is mature and stable and is unlikely to break in new and interesting ways. It's an operating system FFS - the details of a new version should really only be of interest to a very niche group. Granted that probably includes a larger than normal percentage of the participants in here.

      The longer we can avoid major perturbations like systemd (whichever side of that fence you are on) the more I like it.

    2. jake Silver badge

      Re: Bigger! Newer!! Better???

      Don't worry, Pete 2, if you don't run a Habana Labs Gaudi AI Training Processor, your copy of the kernel won't contain that code any more than it would contain the code for an S/390 on your cute little ARM system.

      It's perfectly safe to rush out and upgrade ... likely you won't see any difference anyway, if all your hardware is already running properly. However, if all your hardware is already running properly (and you know of no security issues ...), there is probably no need to upgrade.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Still only version five after all these years. Imagine what version Chrome would be by now

    1. redpawn

      Taking as long as possible to avoid the number 10

      1. Anonymous Coward
      2. IGotOut Silver badge
        Coat

        Is that the domain Linux.io is owned by someone else?

  5. Steve Graham

    I avoid installing the first major release of anything. Wait until nn.nn.02 comes out.

    However, I do keep just behind the bleeding edge of kernel releases. (This netbook I'm typing on is on 5.6.2). And every time I've compiled a custom kernel, which I do for every machine I use, it goes smoothly. No errors or warnings. The new kernel boots perfectly.

    I'm pretty impressed by the overall quality of the development process.

  6. saidbakr

    What is the end to be bigger and bigger?

    1. aberglas

      Biggest?

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