Kernel Summit 2006: Software suspend

Posted Jul 21, 2006 15:02 UTC (Fri) by riteshsarraf (subscriber, #11138)
Parent article: Kernel Summit 2006: Software suspend

I had the understanding that Free/Open Software was a platform where one
could try innovative work because you had all the freedom.
But that doesn't seem to be the case anymore with the comments most
people give here.

The decisions, these days, about what should and shouldn't be included in
the kernel seems to be driven more by the corporations backing them.

Look at Software Suspend 2. It has features, which AFAIK, no other OS
has. Atleast one, cancelling a suspend in between. Another is speed.

And Software Suspend 2, interestingly, is not even in the -mm tree.

If people still claim that Linux is Free Software just not in terms of
the legal aspect, I believe you should fork a development branch to
incorporate these innovative new features and work on them.

I don't think "backward compatibility" is going to allow innovation that
easy. But yes, being compatible with the kernel is very important, both
for the developer and the user.
I think a development branch is the best thing to do at the moment.