Which Flavour Of Linux Do You Use ? (kernel) Kernel... NOT anouther distro thread

Usually, i use the plain un-patched vanilla kernel, or the Gentoo patched kernel.
And they both work quite nicely.

But on my last linux compile, i chose a slightly different optimisations setting in /etc/make.conf.
and the desktop wasnt quite as responcive as it used to be, under heavy disk use, for example video editing.

so i started looking at other ways of increacing desktop responciveness, in other ways that re-comiling the whole system.

this is when i came across the Con Kolivas' kernel patch set.
http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

For those who dont know, a patch is a method of changing anouther piece of software.

This patch does some amasing things that are not yet implemented n the kernel straight from kernel.org.

my favorite features...Batch (idle) schedulin

In norml linux, (and windows) each running program gets a share of the processor time, and a share can be adjusted with the priority level (nice settings).

using batch idle sheduling, a process can be made to ONLY have access to CPU time that would otherwise be IDLE.

in other words, i could be compiling somthing huge, or running a video editing porgram, transcoding DVD's, and the desktop and all toehr programs would continue to work asif the computer was sat doing nothing at all.

i could even play a game like Un-Real tournament 2004, while compiling / video encoding, and the game would still run full speed.

What kernels are you guys using ? any exotic ones with cool new features that others would like ot know about ???

As I just started my endeavor into Linux, I currently use Fedora Core 4. I hope to eventually switch to simply a kernel where I add all the packages I want, but I fear that is ways away. The main reason I run Linux at all is so I can test assembly programs in Linux for my soon to be forthcoming assembly tutorials (no later than next week).~Viz

That's pretty cool. I need to upgrade my kernel to 2.6. I'll give these patches a try. Thanks a lot .

HOLD everything !!! lol.

Ive decided to dump the -ck patch, and go for an evn more exotic -cko.
This patch is based on -ck, but has even more aggressive performance tweaks, and a few extra patches that are really cool, for example reiser4 !!!!

Reiser4 is the newest addition to available file systems, Lightning fast.
I wont go into the specifics of how it works, but it leavs ext2, ext3 and reiserfs (cersion 3) in the dust.

Most file systems perform very similar when dealing with large files, the main goal in file systems today is being able to access lots o small files, very rapidly.

Reiser4 is just over 10times faster than ext2.

No doubt about it... Reiser4 IS the fastest file system... here are the benchmarks !
http://www.namesys.com/benchmarks.html

Reiser4 homepage
http://www.namesys.com/v4/v4.html

However its not all great news... Reiser4 is not yet shipped with the canilla linux kernel.
NO GNU/Linux install cd's support it yet, nor to liveCDs.

so to use this filesystem on your root partiton, you would need to do like i did.

1) install a normal linux distro.
2) patch the kernel for reiser4 (or use -cko or -mm kernel)
3) format a second root partiton as reiser4
4) migrate surrent root, to new reiser4 root.
5) edit /etc/fstab and /boot/grub/menu;lst

Ohh, and one thing to be carefull of....
Grub cannot yet boot reiser4, so you will need to use a seperat boot partiton, with more simple file system, for example reiserfs (version 3) or ext2/3.

I will write a tutorial later.

But for you linux pro's i would DEFINATLY recomend using the -cko kernel patch, and reiser4.

(just remember to backup anything important on reiser4, as rescue cd's will not be able to read it)

Anyone who uses linux for games (especially windows games though wine) should definalty look into te -ck or -cko kernel, its lightning fast, so fast ive been able to bump my Half-Life 2 video settings to max quality.

enjoy !

EDIT:

HOLE everything.. AGAIN... lol.

Ive just beem reading about WHY Reiser4 has not yet been added to Linux,
Ill let you google for it yourself, but basically, its not maintainable by kernel hackers,
and seems like support for it will end when namesys moves onto the next reiser5.

Still a nice filesystem to play around with, but dont integrate it into any long term plans.

I think i will move onto XFS / JFS, or maybe Ext3(again) next time i feel like experimenting / tweaking my system.

I am currently using gentoo sources. I used to use love soiurces ..i wonder if its still around cause the guy who used to make them (irc nick lovechild @ freenode servers) retired.gentoo sources is more than enough for me to get a stable system without any hassle.although one day i would like to try some other patches too.

Reiser FS 4 is still experimental and soon to be stable, stick with 3.6 if you important data B)xboxrulz

Reiser4 has already gone stable, But the kernel maintainers are refusing to add it to the mainline kernel over arguments about the Linux VFS (firtual fle-system layer)The linux kernel guys want reiser4 to be placed low level, under the VFS, with all the other file systems.And Mr. Hans Reiser wants it to replace the linux VFS, and eventually re-implement the current linux file-systems as pluggins to the Reiser4 FS.Technically, this would be a good idea, But when NameSYS stop maintaining reiser4, the kernel hackers wont be able to take over, and linux will be left without a VFS at all.

I use the nitro source. Experimental is my style. It added it's own "Nitro" menu so users can select it's new functions easily