Comprehending Linux Developments

One of the primary problems, or challenges, that Linux faces is being able to clearly communicate the state of the Linux Operating System (especially the core, or "kernel") software development to those who would like to know what is going on. I am one of those interested in keeping track of the progress that Linux makes (mainly against Microsoft Windows or Apple OSX features), since Linux is a FREE alternative operating system.

Linux has made incredible advancements over the past months and years, and the latest kernel series (2.6.25.x) brought with it a lot of great features and improvements. But, even though I am an experienced software developer and technologist, that doesn't mean I want to look through the cryptic release-notes that are hosted on the Linux foundation's kernel.org web page (which are essentially source-control code check-in notes made by developers) and try to figure out exactly what those improvements and changes were.

So, I am quite pleased to report that I have found an awesome resource for understanding, in plain English, what recent updates have been made to Linux at: http://kernelnewbies.org/LinuxChanges

A quote from that website states an objective for the website which I certainly find incredibly useful:

[The website is] A comprehensible changelog of the Linux kernel, this page shows a summary of the important changes being added in each Linux kernel release - support for new devices, features, filesystems, and subsystems as well as important internal changes. While this text is aimed to be readable (unlike the full changelog), its primary audience is those who know a fair amount about how a kernel operates.

The site appears to live up to this objective, as I was able to quickly comprehend what is new and improved in Linux 2.6.25, and I will be here reading about the Linux 2.6.26 changes soon too I'm sure.

In addition, the same website has what they call a "Linux Kernel Glossary" of various terms and acronyms related to the Linux kernel, in a nicely organized alphabetically-indexed and hyperlinked resource. This is most welcome, as I get quickly overloaded with the zillion++ acronyms in the technology world. Even though this web page is the "Kernel Glossary", many of the terms described here are applicable to Windows, PCs in general, etc. also - so it's a great resource all around.