Re: 2.5 'what to expect' document.

["Randy.Dunlap" <rddunlap@osdl.org>]

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> A few people mailed me recently telling me that they'd
> stumbled upon this doc, and wished they'd found a lot sooner,
> and it's been a while since I last posted it (and naturally,
> lots of stuff changes) so here's a repost...
>
> 		Dave
>
>
>                      The post-halloween document. v0.33
>                         (aka, 2.5 - what to expect)
>
>                     Dave Jones <davej@codemonkey.org.uk>
>
>                           (Updated as of 2.5.67)

Dave,

Here's a diff to v0.33.  Corrected corrections welcome.

Attached due to mail agent hassles.  :(

~Randy



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--- post-halloween-2.5.txt.org	2003-04-12 19:56:26.000000000 +0000
+++ post-halloween-2.5.txt	2003-04-14 22:04:54.000000000 +0000
@@ -44,7 +44,8 @@
   has been removed. Upgrade to XFree86 4.1.0 or higher.
 - LVM1 has been removed. See Device-mapper below.
 - boot time root= parsing changed.
-  ramdisks now have ram<n> isntead of rd<n> and cm206 - cm206cd (instead of cm206).
+  ramdisks now have ram<n> instead of rd<n> and cm206 has cm206cd (instead of
+  cm206).
 - The system call table is no longer exported. Any module that relied
   on this previously will no longer work.
 - Soundmodem hamradio support has been removed. Its functionality
@@ -58,7 +59,7 @@
 - The in-kernel module loader got reimplemented.
 - You need replacement module utilities from
   http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/people/rusty/modules/
-- A backwards compatable set of module utilities is also available
+- A backwards compatible set of module utilities is also available
   from the same URL in RPM format.
 - Debian sid users can 'apt-get install module-init-tools'
 - Modules now free stuff marked with __init or __initdata.
@@ -76,7 +77,8 @@
 - Note: The new configuration system is not CML2 related.
 - Also note: Whilst some ideas were taken from it, Keith Owens'
   kbuild-2.5 project was not integrated.
-- "make" is now the preferred target; it does <arch-zimage> and modules.
+- "make" is now the preferred command, without a target; it does <arch-zimage>
+  and modules.
 - "make -jN" is now the preferred parallel-make execution.
   Do not bother to provide "MAKE=xxx"
 - Try "make KBUILD_VERBOSE=0 <whatever target>". If you like it,
@@ -107,7 +109,7 @@
 Enormous block size support.
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 - Thanks to work done by Peter Chubb, block devices can now access up to
-  16TB on 32-bit architectures, and up to 8EB on 64bit architectures.
+  16TB on 32-bit architectures, and up to 8EB on 64-bit architectures.
 - To use the new BLKGETSZ64 ioctls, you'll need updated file-utils.
   (Currently only jfsutils 1.0.20 has this change, patches for other
    filesystems are still pending merging)
@@ -134,7 +136,7 @@
   reclaim plain pagecache rather than mapped-into-pagetables memory.
 - The bdflush() syscall is now officially deprecated. The syscall
   does nothing, and prints a stern warning to users. The functionality
-  is replaced by the pdflush deamons.
+  is replaced by the pdflush daemons.
 
 
 Kernel preemption.
@@ -218,7 +220,7 @@
   -  exit/fork task cache
   -  /proc updates for threading
   -  API chith __init or __initdata.
@@ -76,7 +77,8 @@
 - Note: The new configuration system is not CML2 related.
 - Also note: Whilst some ideas were taken from it, Keith Owens'
   kbuild-2.5 project was not integrated.
-- "make" is now the preferred target; it does <arch-zimage> and modules.
+- "make" is now the preferred command, without a target; it does <arch-zimage>
+  and modules.
 - "make -jN" is now the preferred parallel-make execution.
   Do not bother to provide "MAKE=xxx"
 - Try "make KBUILD_VERBOSE=0 <whatever target>". If you like it,
@@ -107,7 +109,7 @@
 Enormous block size support.
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 - Thanks to work done by Peter Chubb, block devices can now access up to
-  16TB on 32-bit architectures, and up to 8EB on 64bit architectures.
+  16TB on 32-bit architectures, and up to 8EB on 64-bit architectures.
 - To use the new BLKGETSZ64 ioctls, you'll need updated file-utils.
   (Currently only jfsutils 1.0.20 has this change, patches for other
    filesystems are still pending merging)
@@ -134,7 +136,7 @@
   reclaim plain pagecache rather than mapped-into-pagetables memory.
 - The bdflush() syscall is now officially deprecated. The syscall
   does nothing, and prints a stern warning to users. The functionality
-  is replaced by the pdflush deamons.
+  is replaced by the pdflush daemons.
 
 
 Kernel preemption.
@@ -218,7 +220,7 @@
   -  exit/fork task cache
   -  /proc updates for threading
   -  API changes for threading.
-- Users should notice is a significant speedup in basic thread
+- Users should notice a significant speedup in basic thread
   operations - this is true even for old-threading userspace libraries such
   as LinuxThreads.
 - Regressions should go to Ingo Molnar <mingo@redhat.com> and phil-list@redhat.com.
@@ -241,7 +243,7 @@
 	%u - insert current uid into filename
 	%g - insert current gid into filename
 	%s - insert signal that caused the coredump into the filename
-	%t - insert UNIX time that the coredump occured into filename
+	%t - insert UNIX time that the coredump occurred into filename
 	%h - insert hostname where the coredump happened into filename
 	%e - insert coredumping executable name into filename
 
@@ -253,7 +255,7 @@
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~
 - Possibly the most visible change to the end user. If misconfigured,
   you'll find that your keyboard/mouse/other input device will no longer work.
-  2.5 offers a much more flexable interface to devices such as keyboards.
+  2.5 offers a much more flexible interface to devices such as keyboards.
 - The downside is more confusing options.
   In the "Input device support" menu, be sure to enable at least the following.
 
@@ -317,7 +319,7 @@
 - Systems that support the SYSENTER extension (Basically Intel PPro and
   above, and AMD Athlons) now have a faster method of making the transition
   from userspace to kernelspace when a syscall is performed.
-- Without anges for threading.
-- Users should notice is a significant speedup in basic thread
+- Users should notice a significant speedup in basic thread
   operations - this is true even for old-threading userspace libraries such
   as LinuxThreads.
 - Regressions should go to Ingo Molnar <mingo@redhat.com> and phil-list@redhat.com.
@@ -241,7 +243,7 @@
 	%u - insert current uid into filename
 	%g - insert current gid into filename
 	%s - insert signal that caused the coredump into the filename
-	%t - insert UNIX time that the coredump occured into filename
+	%t - insert UNIX time that the coredump occurred into filename
 	%h - insert hostname where the coredump happened into filename
 	%e - insert coredumping executable name into filename
 
@@ -253,7 +255,7 @@
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~
 - Possibly the most visible change to the end user. If misconfigured,
   you'll find that your keyboard/mouse/other input device will no longer work.
-  2.5 offers a much more flexable interface to devices such as keyboards.
+  2.5 offers a much more flexible interface to devices such as keyboards.
 - The downside is more confusing options.
   In the "Input device support" menu, be sure to enable at least the following.
 
@@ -317,7 +319,7 @@
 - Systems that support the SYSENTER extension (Basically Intel PPro and
   above, and AMD Athlons) now have a faster method of making the transition
   from userspace to kernelspace when a syscall is performed.
-- Without an updated glibc, its unlikely that this will be noticable.
+- Without an updated glibc, it's unlikely that this will be noticable.
 - Updated glibc binaries with sysenter support for Red Hat rawhide
   are available at ftp://people.redhat.com/drepper/glibc/2.3.1-25/
 - Regressions to torvalds@transmeta.com and libc-alpha@redhat.com
@@ -345,7 +347,7 @@
     append = "video=radeon:1024x768-24@100"
   needs to become..
     append = "video=radeonfb:1024x768-24@100"
-- Current userspace tools (fbset for eg) are not yet updated.,
+- Current userspace tools (fbset for eg) are not yet updated,
   and won't function as expected.
 - Any problems should go to <jsimmons@infradead.org>
 
@@ -355,7 +357,7 @@
 - The IDE code rewrite was subject to much criticism in early 2.5.x, which
   put off a lot of people from testing. This work was then subsequently
   dropped, and reverted back to a 2.4.18 IDE status.
-  Since then additional work has occured, but not to the extent
+  Since then additional work has occurred, but not to the extent
   of the first cleanup attempts.
 - Known problems with the current IDE code. 
   o  Simplex IDE devices (eg Ali15x3) are missing DMA sometimes
@@ -364,6 +366,8 @@
   o  Most PCMCIA devices have unload races and may oops on eject
   o  Modular IDE does not yet work, modular IDE PCI modules sometimes
      oops on loading
+  o ide_scsi is completely broken in 2.5.x. Known problem. If you need it
+    either use 2.4 or fix it 8)
 - IDE disk geometry translators like OnTrack, EZ Partition, Disk Manager
   are no longer supported. The only way forward is to remove the translator
   from the drive, and start over.
@@ -395,7 +399,8 @@
   These drivers will cause warnings during compilation due to
   missing abort: & reset: functions.
 - Note, that some drivers have had these members removed, but still
-  lack error handling. Those noticed so far are ncr53c8xxx, sym53c8xx and inia100
+  lack error handling. Those noticed so far are ncr53c8xxx, sym53c8xx and
+  inia100
 
 
 v4l2.
@@ -511,7 +516,7 @@
 The SGI XFS filesystem has been merged, and has a number of userspace
 features. Users are encouraged to read http://oss.sgi.com/projects/xfs
 for more information.
-The various utilties for creating and manipulating XFS volumes can
+The various utilities for creating and manipulating XFS volumes can
 be found on SGI's ftp server..
 ftp://oss.sgi.com/projects/xfs/download/download/cmd_tars/xfsprogs-2.3.6.src.tar.gz
 
@@ -602,7 +607,7 @@
 spec cases.
 
 Additionally, the new modules interface will taint the kernel if you try
-to 'force' a module to unload with rmmod -f.
+to 'force' a module to load with insmod -f.
 
 
 Power management.
@@ -641,7 +646,7 @@
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 The LVM1 code got removed wholesale, and replaced with a much better
 designed 'device mapper'.
-- This is backwards compatable with the LVM1 disk format.
+- This is backwards compatible with the LVM1 disk format.
 - Device mapper does require new tools to manage volumes however.
   You can get these from ftp://ftp.sistina.com/pub/LVM2/tools/
 
@@ -671,6 +676,8 @@
   optimisations that 2.4 didn't. This may shake out compiler bugs that
   2.4 didn't expose.
 - Do not use gcc 3.0.x on x86 due to a stack pointer handling bug.
+  gcc 2.96 is not supported with CONFIG_FRAME_POINTER=y due to a stack
+  pointer handling bug.
 
 
 Security concerns.
@@ -701,8 +708,10 @@
   - bind9-host from debian testing triggers, though the 'host' package doesn't.
 - Users of boxes with >1 NIC may find that for eg, eth0 and eth1 refer to
   the opposites of what they did in 2.4.   This is a bug that will be fixed
-  before 2.6.0
-- An additional bug biting some people is that NICs fail to recieve packets
+  before 2.6.0.  One option (or management workaround) for this is to use
+  'nameif' to name Ethernet interfaces.  There is a HOWTO for doing this at
+  <http://www.xenotime.net/linux/network-interface-names.txt>.
+- An additional bug biting some people is that NICs fail to receive packets
   (usually notable by a NIC not getting a DHCP lease for eg, despite being
    sent one by the server). Booting with "noapic" "acpi=off" or a combination
   of both fixes this for most people. Additional breakage reports should go
@@ -718,7 +727,7 @@
 - This functionality is currently only used by IPSec, but will laan updated glibc, its unlikely that this will be noticable.
+- Without an updated glibc, it's unlikely that this will be noticable.
 - Updated glibc binaries with sysenter support for Red Hat rawhide
   are available at ftp://people.redhat.com/drepper/glibc/2.3.1-25/
 - Regressions to torvalds@transmeta.com and libc-alpha@redhat.com
@@ -345,7 +347,7 @@
     append = "video=radeon:1024x768-24@100"
   needs to become..
     append = "video=radeonfb:1024x768-24@100"
-- Current userspace tools (fbset for eg) are not yet updated.,
+- Current userspace tools (fbset for eg) are not yet updated,
   and won't function as expected.
 - Any problems should go to <jsimmons@infradead.org>
 
@@ -355,7 +357,7 @@
 - The IDE code rewrite was subject to much criticism in early 2.5.x, which
   put off a lot of people from testing. This work was then subsequently
   dropped, and reverted back to a 2.4.18 IDE status.
-  Since then additional work has occured, but not to the extent
+  Since then additional work has occurred, but not to the extent
   of the first cleanup attempts.
 - Known problems with the current IDE code. 
   o  Simplex IDE devices (eg Ali15x3) are missing DMA sometimes
@@ -364,6 +366,8 @@
   o  Most PCMCIA devices have unload races and may oops on eject
   o  Modular IDE does not yet work, modular IDE PCI modules sometimes
      oops on loading
+  o ide_scsi is completely broken in 2.5.x. Known problem. If you need it
+    either use 2.4 or fix it 8)
 - IDE disk geometry translators like OnTrack, EZ Partition, Disk Manager
   are no longer supported. The only way forward is to remove the translator
   from the drive, and start over.
@@ -395,7 +399,8 @@
   These drivers will cause warnings during compilation due to
   missing abort: & reset: functions.
 - Note, that some drivers have had these members removed, but still
-  lack error handling. Those noticed so far are ncr53c8xxx, sym53c8xx and inia100
+  lack error handling. Those noticed so far are ncr53c8xxx, sym53c8xx and
+  inia100
 
 
 v4l2.
@@ -511,7 +516,7 @@
 The SGI XFS filesystem has been merged, and has a number of userspace
 features. Users are encouraged to read http://oss.sgi.com/projects/xfs
 for more information.
-The various utilties for creating and manipulating XFS volumes can
+The various utilities for creating and manipulating XFS volumes can
 be found on SGI's ftp server..
 ftp://oss.sgi.com/projects/xfs/download/download/cmd_tars/xfsprogs-2.3.6.src.tar.gz
 
@@ -602,7 +607,7 @@
 spec cases.
 
 Additionally, the new modules interface will taint the kernel if you try
-to 'force' a module to unload with rmmod -f.
+to 'force' a module to load with insmod -f.
 
 
 Power management.
@@ -641,7 +646,7 @@
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 The LVM1 code got removed wholesale, and replaced with a much better
 designed 'device mapper'.
-- This is backwards compatable with the LVM1 disk format.
+- This is backwards compatible with the LVM1 disk format.
 - Device mapper does require new tools to manage volumes however.
   You can get these from ftp://ftp.sistina.com/pub/LVM2/tools/
 
@@ -671,6 +676,8 @@
   optimisations that 2.4 didn't. This may shake out compiler bugs that
   2.4 didn't expose.
 - Do not use gcc 3.0.x on x86 due to a stack pointer handling bug.
+  gcc 2.96 is not supported with CONFIG_FRAME_POINTER=y due to a stack
+  pointer handling bug.
 
 
 Security concerns.
@@ -701,8 +708,10 @@
   - bind9-host from debian testing triggers, though the 'host' package doesn't.
 - Users of boxes with >1 NIC may find that for eg, eth0 and eth1 refer to
   the opposites of what they did in 2.4.   This is a bug that will be fixed
-  before 2.6.0
-- An additional bug biting some people is that NICs fail to recieve packets
+  before 2.6.0.  One option (or management workaround) for this is to use
+  'nameif' to name Ethernet interfaces.  There is a HOWTO for doing this at
+  <http://www.xenotime.net/linux/network-interface-names.txt>.
+- An additional bug biting some people is that NICs fail to receive packets
   (usually notable by a NIC not getting a DHCP lease for eg, despite being
    sent one by the server). Booting with "noapic" "acpi=off" or a combination
   of both fixes this for most people. Additional breakage reports should go
@@ -718,7 +727,7 @@
 - This functionality is currently only used by IPSec, but will later
   be extended to be used by other parts of the kernel. It's possible
   that it will later also be available for use in userspace through
-  a crypto device, possibly compatable with the OpenBSD crypto userspace.
+  a crypto device, possibly compatible with the OpenBSD crypto userspace.
 
 
 Deprecated.