The recent bruhaha surrounding Xen on LKML is really disheartening. Essentially, the Linux kernel devs are at a disconnect with users. Some are proposing narrow-minded ideas such as DROPPING software paravirt or merging Xen as a whole into the kernel.

The Linux kernel is surrounded by hundreds of interested parties. How is it that none of them gains a commanding influence over the kernel's development priorities?HP, IBM, Oracle. Google, eBay and Intel each has a primary stake in Linux and employs kernel developers. Does this mean money talks when it comes to Linux? If not, why not?

In the early days, the project was conceived as a way of getting fresh blood into Linux kernel development by giving new developers fairly simple but generally useful tasks and hoping they'd move more into the mainstream. Currently this process doesn't work very well. Some think bug finding and reporting would do better.

Linus Torvalds, Andrew Morton and eighty other important kernel developers are now debating how they plan to proceed with the future development of Linux at the Kernel Summit 2008 in Portland, Oregon.

After the release of Linux 2.6.27, kernel developers are currently busily integrating patches for the next kernel version into the main development branch of Linux. This usually involves discarding some old code and adding new code though on balance, there are usually more new lines than old ones, making the kernel grow continually.

The Linux kernel will soon include a driver for Creative's X-Fi sound cards. After a long pause, the kernel development team are once again debating merging TuxOnIce.

More developers are contributing more code to the development of Linux, and are speeding up in the process, according to a new study from the Linux Foundation. The latest "Who Writes Linux" report is now its second year, tracking the development of Linux from the 2.6.24 kernel to the recent 2.6.30 kernel release.

James Morris has outlined a preview of the security subsystem changes he is currently carrying in his security-testing-next branch of the Linux kernel that he plans to have Linus Torvalds pull into the next kernel development cycle for Linux 2.6.36. The big change in the kernel security world is that AppArmor is being planned for integration into the Linux 2.6.36 kernel.

At the end of 2008, the 2.6.28 kernel surfaced. Subsequently, the merge window for the next release—2.6.29—opened. As the Linux kernel uses a distributed development process, it's not always clear what's coming (or will be integrated) into a given kernel release, but the last two have been interesting.