Linus Torvalds released the Linux 3.3 kernel on Sunday, formally ending a two year dispute between mainline Linux kernel developers and Google Android developers.
The Linux 2.6.38 kernel that was released in February of 2010 removed Android code after Linux kernel developers alleged that it wasn’t being maintained properly. Friction between Linux and Android developers boiled over in the summer of 2010, as each side blamed the other for not being in the Linux kernel. Since then, tempers have cooled and an understanding has been reached and with Linux 3.3, Android is back.
“Turns out I was wrong, we want these in the tree,” Linux kernel developer Greg Kroah-Hartman wrote in his code commit adding Android drivers back into the Linux mainline.
he Linux 3.3 kernel is also notable for a new virtual networking feature. The Open vSwitch virtual network switch is already being used in the OpenStack open source cloud computing framework.
“In addition to supporting a variety of features expected in a traditional hardware switch, it enables fine-grained programmatic extension and flow-based control of the network,” Kernel developer Jess Gross wrote in his kernel commit. “This control is useful in a wide variety of applications but is particularly important in multi-server virtualization deployments, which are often characterized by highly dynamic endpoints and the need to maintain logical abstractions for multiple tenants.”
Read the full story at Datamation:
Linux 3.3 Boosts Linux Mobility
Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at InternetNews.com, the news service of the IT Business Edge Network, the network for technology professionals. Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.