The Linux kernel mailing list comprises the core of Linux development activities. Traffic volumes are immense, often reaching ten thousand messages in a given week, and keeping up to date with the entire scope of development is a virtually impossible task for one person. One of the few brave souls to take on this task is Zack Brown. Our regular monthly column keeps you abreast of the latest discussions and decisions, selected and summarized by Zack. Zack has been publishing a weekly online digest, the Kernel Traffic news letter for over five years now. Even reading Kernel Traffic alone can be a time consuming task. Linux Magazine now provides you with the quintessence of Linux Kernel activities, straight from the horse’s mouth.

The cloop module lets you manage compression at the block device level. Read on to learn how Knoppix and other Live CDs fit all that software on a single disc.

New versions of the Linux kernel will support a special userspace driver
model, but some technical pitfalls might limit the use of this interesting
new feature.

Linus Torvalds presents the first test candidate of Linux Kernel 2.6.28 on his mailing list.

The Linux Foundation got positive results from its first ever End User Summit in New York October 14 and 15. Its concept of "end user" ended up including not only private users but many enterprises and organizations.

Greg Kroah-Hartman, Linux developer at Novell, suggests a new naming scheme for the Kernel releases on the Kernel mailing list. The four-digit year would be included in the name.