Subj : now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.
To   : Maurice Kinal
From : Nick Boel
Date : Fri Oct 23 2026 05:07 pm

Hey Maurice!

On Fri, Oct 23 2026 00:02:12, you wrote:

 MK> So far it appears to be a tad faster bootup and sharper runtime response
 MK> but I don't have any hardcore numbers to back that up ... yet. As we
 MK> speak this machine is the only one running a v7.3 kernel.

Sounds like a treat!

 MK> Offhand I think there was some truth to that hype. Definetly better than
 MK> at least one of the 7.2 kernels I tried which is the reason I am holding
 MK> off with v6.18 kernels on the other three machines for now.

Already some milestones for 7.4:

[ --- snip --- ]

Key Features and Improvements

Kernel Build Speed - Patches have been introduced to significantly reduce 
kernel build times, with improvements of up to 70% for incremental builds.

Scheduling Latency - Enhancements to scheduling latency for short-slice tasks, 
improving responsiveness and performance.

Crypto Library Optimizations - The kernel's crypto library is being optimized, 
particularly for AES implementations on x86 and RISC-V architectures.

Control Flow Protection - Work is ongoing to implement x86 kernel shadow 
stacks, enhancing security against control flow attacks.

File Handling Improvements - The kernel will close files synchronously for 
operations like close_range, exec, and exit, improving resource management.

[ --- snip --- ]

 MK> I'll know better once I upgrade my 'new' workstation (Epyc) as it has 6
 MK> 3.5" spinney drives - hot swappable - plus an onboard nvme which is the
 MK> default boot device on there.

I'm keeping an eye on it all. I may soon be switching my gaming machine over to 
Linux (from Windows). I just need to be sure that the few games I play work 
100% as good or better than they do on Windows, and I'll finally be sold. ;)

 MK> How about Archlinux?  Are we there yet?

Not yet. I'm still on 7.2.11-arch1-1 at the moment. Although I probably won't 
really notice much (if any) differences, since I'm rarely ever on the physical 
hardware. I run my esxi server headless, and SSH into all my VMs from my main 
computer. When I switch this one over, though.. I'm hoping all their gaming 
updates/support, responsiveness, and performance is noticeable in all it's 
glory. ;)

Regards,
Nick

.... I don't suffer from insanity; I enjoy every minute of it.
--- AmberEdit/linux 0.9.3
 * Origin: thePharcyde_ telnet://bbs.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin) (1:154/10)

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