Stable branch still needed

Stable branch still needed

Posted Jul 30, 2004 22:02 UTC (Fri) by giraffedata (subscriber, #1954)
In reply to: My problem with this by pm101
Parent article: Another look at the new development model

There is still a huge need for a stable/stabilizing branch of the Linux kernel, which is not provided in this system. If Linus doesn't want to provide or endorse one, I expect someone else will. Probably major distributions.

I'm talking about a branch for people who are using a computer to do a certain thing and as long as that thing doesn't change, they don't need new features. They do, however, need bug fixes and other minor adjustments. For these people, no matter how much a certain piece of code has stabilized in mm, it is too big a risk to add it to their system when they aren't even going to use it.

Also, removing features can only hurt these people.

I envision an expanded form of subtrees (which already exist to a small degree), wherein someone distributes 2.6.7.1, 2.6.7.2, etc. Assuming such a distributor starts up the next stabilizing series before 2.6.7 is two years old, we will avoid the pressure to make destabilizing changes to the stable series, that killed the even/odd system we had going.

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