Date:	Tue, 19 Sep 2000 16:49:00 -0600
From:	Cort Dougan <cort@fsmlabs.com>
To:	Russell King <rmk@arm.linux.org.uk>
Subject: Re: Linux-2.4.0-test9-pre2

} Cort Dougan writes:
} > I've had to create a 2.5 for the PPC tree so we aren't stuck with either no
} > experimentation or experimentation in the stable trees.
} 
} Well, you're not alone.  There's a lot going on in the ARM side of Linux
} which looks very promising; yes it is true that ARM is not the fastest
} or the most optimal processor that Linux runs on, but there is a lot of
} people who want to run it, both from the individual and the commercial
} circles.
} 
} As such, the ARM hardware that Linux now runs on is, ahem, quite varied,
} and new hardware is coming along at an astounding rate - currently its
} about one a week for the past 4 months (looking at the rate at which the
} requests for architecture numbers come into my automated system).
} 
} So yes, you can say that I'm probably in the same boat as you are as an
} architecture maintainer, albeit I've currently got a little more room
} to move for the time being.
} 
} Maybe someone ought to kick off a 2.5 kernel series now, so that there's
} somewhere for all these features to go (and I don't mean a private 2.5
} tree).  This can then be handed (maybe piecemeal) to Linus?  Maybe we can
} use a version number like 2.5.0-u1 upwards? (u for unofficial, or maybe
} even "unoff")?
} 
} The only problem I can see with this (which I believe has been aired before)
} is that it will detract from the bug fixing exercise for 2.4, since people
} will be more interested in the new features of 2.5 rather than the bugs with
} 2.4, but then again, I'd like to be proven wrong.

My opinion is that 2.4 bug fixes are less common than unnecessary rewrites
of working code that brings about even more instability and delays for a
real and stable 2.4.  Bitterness leaks out... 

I have a start to the 2.5 tree for PPC.  We're keeping up-to-date with 2.4
changes so when the official 2.5 does come out we can merge our changes
into it without too much trouble.  I'm only allowing bugfixes into our 2.4
tree now that we have some place to play.

If anyone else wants access to the 2.5 tree we have as a place to keep
experimental changes I'm happy to open it up to the outside.
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