Linux 3.3 Released, Integrates Android Code

[Jailani]

Linux 3.3 Released, Integrates Android Code
By Mikael Ricknäs, IDG News

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/252098/linux_33_released_integrates_android_code.html

Version 3.3 of the Linux kernel, now available after a short delay,
includes kernel code from Android as well as an upgrade of networking
features and support for an additional processing architecture.

The latest version of the Linux kernel was supposed to have been
released about a week ago but at the time another release candidate
was needed to fix issues related to networking, memory management and
drivers. That work is now done, and the new kernel is available for
download, Linus Torvalds, creator of the operating system, announced
Sunday.

The big news in version 3.3 is that Android features are again part
the Linux kernel, after the two camps had a falling out a few years
ago.

The integration work will allow a developer to use the Linux kernel to
run an Android system; to develop drivers for either the Android
kernel or the Linux kernel; and to reduce or eliminate the burden of
maintaining independent patches from release to release for Android
kernel developers, according to the Android Mainlining Project.

In future versions of the kernel, the work on integrating Linux and
Android will include the addition of better power-management features,
according to Linux kernel maintainer Greg Kroah-Hartman.

But Android code isn't the only addition in version 3.3 of the Linux
kernel.

The kernel also integrates Open vSwitch, which is a multilayer virtual
switch licensed under the open source Apache 2.0 license. It can
forward traffic among different virtual machines on the same physical
host and traffic between virtual machines and the physical network.

Linux can now also run on Texas Instruments' c64x and c66x processors,
which can be used in, for example, printers, mobile base stations and
medical diagnostics equipment, according to the chip maker.