Re: Linux 2.4.21-rc6

Michael Frank
2003-06-03T16:17:31Z

On Wednesday 04 June 2003 00:02, Marcelo Tosatti wrote:
> On Wed, 28 May 2003, Marc Wilson wrote:
> > On Thu, May 29, 2003 at 06:34:48AM +0100, Riley Williams wrote:
> > > The basic problem there is that any mail client needs to know
> > > just how many messages are in a particular folder to handle that
> > > folder, and the only way to do this is to count them all. That's
> > > what takes the time when one opens a large folder.
> >
> > No, the basic problem there is that the kernel is deadlocking. Read the
> > VERY long thread for the details.
> >
> > I think I have enough on the ball to be able to tell the difference
> > between mutt opening a folder and counting messages, with a counter and
> > percentage indicator advancing, and mutt sitting there deadlocked with
> > the HD activity light stuck on and all the rest of X stuck tight.
> >
> > And it just happened again, so -rc6 is no sure fix. What did y'all that
> > reported the problem had gone away do, patch -rc4 with the akpm patches?
> > ^_^
>
> Ok, so you can reproduce the hangs reliably EVEN with -rc6, Marc?

-rc6 is better - comparable to 2.4.18 in what I have seen with my script.

After the long obscure problems since 2.4.19x, -rc6 could use serious
stress-testing.

User level testing is not sufficient here - it's just like playing roulette.

By serious stress-testing I mean:

Everone testing comes up with one dedicated "tough test"
which _must_ be reproducible (program, script) along his line of
expertise/application.

Two or more of these independent tests are run in combination.

This method should increase the coverage drastically.

Regards
Michael