The event drew hundreds of heavyweight programmers in the Linux kernel development community, including Linus Torvalds, Alan Cox, and Stephen Tweedie. Linux 2.4 took a lot longer than we thought it might take. We're striving to shorten the development cycle. While the kernel spec is still in the blueprint phase, programmers at the conference also discussed plans to support new HotPlug architectures to enhance the hot-swapping capabilities of Linux, and on the high end, to pursue enhancements for ccNUMA and SMP clustering, said Ts'o. IBM executives who attended the event, for instance, focused on Linux enhancements for ccNUMA architectures, he said.
Analysts say the direction of the kernel is sound, but it's too early in the game to comment.
Another analyst noted that the challenge isn't getting corporate support, but managing the development in a timely manner. The challenge will be balancing a faster kernel development process with the addition of system software. At least one solution provider claims the kernel development has little impact on his business or his customers. The real focus, he said , is on forthcoming enhancements in the open-source arena for Web servers, file and print services, and GUI efforts. The Linux 2.5 changes sound great, but most of the high-end things won't have direct impact on our customers.