kernel sources confusion

tom56 · Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2004 7:27 pm Post subject: kernel sources confusion

what is the difference between gentoo-sources and gentoo-dev-sources?
are they both as stable as each other?

gazR · n00b Joined: 06 Dec 2003 Posts: 56

gentoo-sources are based on kernel 2.4 whereas gentoo-dev-sources are based on kernel 2.6

tom56 · Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2004 7:34 pm Post subject:

but are they just as stable? if so, what's the point in the newer one being "dev" instead of default?

gazR · n00b Joined: 06 Dec 2003 Posts: 56

kernel 2.4 is a tried and tested kernel still used in most real-world deployed situations. Infact even you will still find kernel 2.0 machines used in critical environments. Basically, everyone knows the bugs and deficiancies in these older kernels which gives the users an extra level of confidence in their systems.

kernel 2.6 on the otherhand, is still new technology, so even though it may be better in most situations and is certainly classed as stable, its still an unknown quantity in terms of stability & reliability.

sidawg79 · n00b Joined: 27 Apr 2004 Posts: 24 Location: Canada... eh?

Does kernal 2.4 have write support for NTFS drives? I am working with a mixed network and would like to access files from Win2K server machines

Tii · l33t Joined: 02 Jan 2004 Posts: 733

gazR · n00b Joined: 06 Dec 2003 Posts: 56

neither 2.4 or 2.6 will write to ntfs (although it is in development). If you have win2k servers on your network, would using samba and windows network shares be a solution?

That is what I use, I have a network with win2k, winxp and my gentoo box. I'm still working at getting gentoo to play nice with my active directory setup though.

sidawg79 · n00b Joined: 27 Apr 2004 Posts: 24 Location: Canada... eh?

Yeah... a quick google turned up my answer... no stable write support for NTFS yet.

Guess its the samba / win network sharing way for now as gazR recommended.

tom56 · Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2004 9:03 pm Post subject:

what advantages (if any) are there in using 2.6 instead of 2.4?

odessit · Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2004 10:46 pm Post subject:

2.6 is considered to be faster than 2.4, and this has been my experience as well. 2.6 has better support for some devices
2.6 also has limited write support for NTFS. Basically you can now write to a file without changing it's size. Creation of new files and changingthe size of files is still not stable, massive file curroption may occur.

I think for a desktop or SOHO server environment 2.6 is the way to go. Enterprize level stuff 2.4 probably "safer" since it has been around for a while.