Re: Processes hanging on 2.0.20; not just on Alphas anymore :(

Peter T. Breuer (ptb@dit.upm.es)
Sun, 22 Sep 1996 23:33:32 +0200 (MET DST)


Once upon a time, Linus Torvalds wrote:
>
> On 22 Sep 1996, Thomas Koenig wrote:
> >
> > In linux.dev.kernel, Linus Torvalds <torvalds@cs.helsinki.fi> wrote:
> >
> > > Linus "on to 2.1, I think" Torvalds
> >
> > What are your plans on continuing bugfixes for 2.0? There are still
> > two minor bugs that I experienced and reported, for example
> > (crash on shutdown and the wrong tty->count).
>
> Will be continued. I think I started 1.3 when 1.2.8 was the current
> "stable" kernel, so there is precedent. In fact I suspect I should have

It is my impression (backed up by a hasty count) that the rate of bug
detection is not diminishing. There was a brief lull but there has been a lot
of activity from about 2.0.10 on. Assuming a fixed proportion of
the existing bugs get discovered in any fixed interval, that would indicate
that the number of undiscovered bugs is much larger than the number
discovered so far. I.e. we haven't made a dent.

I would think it a bit dangerous to leave a "stable" kernel in that
state ... but your guess is better than mine about the true state of
affairs. Is Alan keeping count of the dates of bug reports as well as
the actual fixes? If so he could graph the reports against time and
tell us what the curve looks like. Logarithmic paper time.

Hmm .. another point is that as soon as you cease work on 2.0.x it will
be taken as being the last word in stable kernels by everyone and their
billygoat, which means that both will immediately install it. That
will multiply the number of volunteer testers by about 100, which will
accordingly multiply the rate of bug discoveries by 100.

Peter T. Breuer
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