Linux Super Kernel Sunday

On hearing my description of the Super Bowl, a slightly nerdy British friend of mine said “oh, so it's like the World Cup but more homoerotic and xenophobic?” I didn't respond to the baiting, but certainly the Super Bowl is not to everyone's taste, fortunately Linux was there to offer an alternative.

Any nerd worth their salt wasn't vegetating in front of the television yesterday, they were busy downloading and compiling the newly released Linux kernel. As part of what Linus Torvalds calls Super kernel Sunday, version 2.6.20 of the Linux kernel was made available yesterday. The new kernel features numerous bug fixes, unpdates and new features including the introduction of KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) virtualization to the mainline kernel.

Proving once again that FLOSS software has more fun, the press lease from Torvalds is chock full of nerd humor. Here's what Linus wrote in an email to the Linux Kernel mailing list:

Before downloading the actual new kernel, most avid kernel hackers have
been involved in a 2-hour pre-kernel-compilation count-down, with some
even spending the preceding week doing typing exercises and reciting PI
to a thousand decimal places.

The half-time entertainment is provided by randomly inserted trivial
syntax errors that nerds are expected to fix at home before completing
the compile, but most people actually seem to mostly enjoy watching the
compile warnings, sponsored by Anheuser-Busch, scroll past.

As ICD head analyst Walter Dickweed put it: “Releasing a new kernel on
Superbowl Sunday means that the important ‘pasty white nerd'
constituency finally has something to do while the rest of the country
sits comatose in front of their 65” plasma screens”.

Walter was immediately attacked for his racist and insensitive remarks
by Geeks without Borders representative Marilyn vos Savant, who pointed
out that not all of their members are either pasty nor white. “Some of
them even shower!” she added, claiming that the constant stereotyping
hurts nerds' standing in society.

Geeks outside the US were just confused about the whole issue, and were
heard wondering what the big hoopla was all about. Some of the more
culturally aware of them were heard snickering about balls that weren't
even round.

The above link also includes a list of updates, changes and bug fixes in the new kernel.

photo credit