The Most Viewed Linux Kernel News Stories Of 2016

Written by Michael Larabel in Linux Kernel on 30 December 2016 at 10:27 AM EST. Add A Comment
LINUX KERNEL
There are just a few more interesting recaps to share before 2016 draws to an end. I figured some of you may be curious about the most-viewed kernel news stories on Phoronix this calendar year.

Aside from our routine and original kernel feature overview articles each cycle, here is a look at just the most popular news items pertaining to the Linux kernel that were published on Phoronix in 2016:

Btrfs RAID 5/6 Code Found To Be Very Unsafe & Will Likely Require A Rewrite
It turns out the RAID5 and RAID6 code for the Btrfs file-system's built-in RAID support is faulty and users should not be making use of it if you care about your data.

Is The Linux Kernel Scheduler Worse Than People Realize?
A number of Phoronix readers have been pointing out material to indicate that the Linux kernel scheduler isn't as good as most people would assume.

Linux 4.7 - Btrfs vs. EXT4 vs. F2FS vs. XFS vs. NTFS Benchmarks
Continuing on from yesterday's Linux 4.4 To 4.7 - EXT4 vs. F2FS vs. Btrfs Benchmarks comparison, here is a wider look at mainline file-systems on the Linux 4.7. File-systems tested on the NVMe SSD included Btrfs, EXT4, F2FS, XFS, and NTFS.

Well Known Linux Kernel Developer Recommends Against Buying Skylake Systems
Well known Linux kernel developer Matthew Garrett who has led the charge for a number of years about UEFI/SecureBoot issues, poorly secured devices, and more, has taken aim now at Intel's latest-generation "Skylake" systems.

Some Distributions Are Already Making Changes To Linux's Scheduler
Already it's looking like the research from the recently covered The Linux Scheduler: a Decade of Wasted Cores that called out the Linux kernel in being a poor scheduler is having an impact.

The Best Features Of The Linux 4.8 Kernel
If all goes according to plan, the Linux 4.8 kernel will be officially released this afternoon by Linus Torvalds.

OrangeFS Lands In Linux 4.6 Kernel
A new file-system has been merged for the Linux 4.6 kernel.

The Thousands Of FIXMEs & TODOs In The Linux Kernel
Canonical's Colin King has looked at the number of FIXME and TODO comments within the Linux kernel tree.

The Features That Landed So Far In The Linux 4.6 Kernel
We are a little more than half-way through the Linux 4.6 kernel merge window so here's a quick look at the new changes and features that have made it into the code-base for this next major kernel release.

How Ubuntu 16.10 With Linux 4.8/4.9 Compares To Early 3.x Kernels
When having out the Core i5 "Sandy Bridge" HP EliteBook this weekend besides comparing fresh OpenGL numbers to early Sandy Bridge results going back to 2012, I also compared Ubuntu 16.10 / Linux 4.8 and Linux 4.9 compared to older kernel benchmarks I did with the same system.

A Stable Linux Kernel API/ABI? "The Most Insane Proposal" For Linux Development
For some lighthearted weekend reading and sure to make for some interesting discussions in the forums is what was volleyed today onto the kernel mailing list: "The most insane proposal in regard to the Linux kernel development." It's about shaking up the way the Linux kernel development happens, but almost surely the proposal won't end up resulting in changes.

Six Interesting Features Of The Linux 4.6 Kernel
If all goes well before the day is through will be the release of the Linux 4.6 kernel. If you've been behind on your Phoronix readings the past few weeks, here are the highlights to look forward to with Linux 4.6.
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Michael Larabel

Michael Larabel is the principal author of Phoronix.com and founded the site in 2004 with a focus on enriching the Linux hardware experience. Michael has written more than 20,000 articles covering the state of Linux hardware support, Linux performance, graphics drivers, and other topics. Michael is also the lead developer of the Phoronix Test Suite, Phoromatic, and OpenBenchmarking.org automated benchmarking software. He can be followed via Twitter, LinkedIn, or contacted via MichaelLarabel.com.

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