Ubuntu 9.04 Boots in 21.4 Seconds with EXT4 as the default filesystem

Ubuntu 9.04 boots in 21.4 Seconds when using the EXT4 as the default filesystem. This is compared to Ubuntu 8.10 with EXT3 filesystem which boots in 26.8 seconds and Ubuntu 9.04 Alpha (Build 20090112.1) with EXT3 filesystem that boots in 24.5 seconds.

The boot times were calculated from the moment the GRUB boot loader appeared on the screen and until the login manager was displayed. As you can see, there is an approximately 8.7 second difference between an Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) installation and an Ubuntu 9.04 Alpha (Jaunty Jackalope) one on the first system and 5.4 second difference on the second system.

Read more here: Ubuntu 9.04 Boots in 21.4 Seconds with EXT4 as the default filesystem.

Linus Torvalds: "I laugh in your face!"

There is one way to get Linus Torvalds to laugh in your face; submit code to fix Linux that might solve a major difficulty, but also introduce new problems.

Linux originator Torvalds is following his long-standing policy of attending the Australian Linux.conf.au conference but not appearing as a presenter in the formal program. However, he offered a number of comments from the floor during a presentation by LWN.net founder Jonathan Corbet on the kernel development process.

Read more here: Linus Torvalds on regression, laziness and having his code rejected

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3 is Out

Red Hat announced the availability of a new version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) via Red Hat Network to customers with a Red Hat subscription.

The Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3 Release Notes note over 150 updates and upgrades, but here are a few key highlights:

Virtualization enhancements: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3 supports larger x86-64 systems. The number of supported physical CPUs is increased to 126, while maximum memory is increased to 1TB. Virtual server CPU and memory limits have been increased to 32 and 80GB respectively.

Next-generation hardware enablement: The soon-to-be-released Tylersberg/Nehalem platform is the next-generation of Intel x86-64 hardware. Support for the virtualization and performance features provided by this processor combined with numerous optimizations have already demonstrated exceptional performance over previous processor generations in internal Red Hat testing.

OpenJDK: Red Hat is taking a leadership position in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3 by shipping the first productized implementation of OpenJDK.

Disk encryption: Critical for laptop use, but also becoming increasingly important in server deployments (due to concerns with hardware disposal at the end of its lifecycle), Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3 includes full support for encryption of storage, either at the block level or file system level.

Read more here: Virtualization gets a boost in RHEL 5.3