The 2.4-hf tree launches

The 2.4 kernel is now in a deep maintenance mode; all of the exciting activity is happening in 2.6 instead. As a result, several months can pass between 2.4 releases. That delay should not normally be a problem, but it can be an issue for users who get bitten by a bug, or who need an important security fix. There are still quite a few systems running 2.4 kernels, after all, and not everybody wants to wait for months for a fix to a show-stopper bug.

It does not appear that the 2.4 process will speed up, however. Instead, Willy Tarreau, working with Marcelo, has created a new 2.4 "hotfix" tree; the first (announced) release is 2.4.29-hf2. This tree is created entirely by cherry-picking patches out of the 2.4 BitKeeper repository; as such, it contains only patches which will be part of the next official 2.4 kernel. The tree contains a few security fixes (none of which appear particularly urgent), one "critical fix" (for a panic in LVM), and various other bug fixes.

The latest -hf patches will always be available on Willy's site.

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