Kernel testing

[Ronan Jouchet]

On 10-12-07 12:50 PM, ailo wrote:
> I noticed Alessio asked Tims opinion on whether or not the lowlatency
> kernel is needed.
> I don't know what has been suggested or talked about in the past, so
> forgive me if I repeat something here.
>
> [...]
>
> Maybe someone in this mail-list does tests to determine whether or not
> the generic kernel can do these things as well as the
> lowlatency/realtime kernels?

Hello everybody,

Alessio, Tim, I fail to understand this sudden position shift towards 
-lowlatency. Half a dozen users tested the -lowlatency kernel this 
summer, with the following results:
   - Yes, lowlatency provides noticeably lower latency than generic
   - Rt/realtime remains snappier and thus remain a requirement for 
diehard audio users needing top notch performance.
   - However, rt/realtime are very painful to maintain compared to 
lowlatency that consists in "simple" build-time tweaks

This resulted in an apparently well-accepted *focus on lowlatency for 
Natty*, summed up by Scott in end-of-September emails. We even nailed it 
in https://wiki.ubuntu.com/RealTime , including a testing table 
featuring two neat green "lowlatency" rows.

Alessio, don't get me wrong here: I respect this amazing work you've 
been doing (and that I'd totally be unable to do), I know you are doing 
it alone, and I know the absence of feedback can get discouraging.
I just want to understand why this question pops now. We should be 
pushing for inclusion in Natty, and instead of focusing on testing and 
bugfixing we are re-debating an already closed subject.

Anyway, *yes there is ongoing testing*: right now holstein, ailo, I (and 
possibly other users) are testing it. Again:
Testers: please keep hammering the lowlatency kernel from Alessio's PPA, 
and report your test results.
Alessio: please bear with us and continue your efforts, rest assured the 
interest is there.

I hope this email doesn't sound harsh. No aggressiveness intended, I 
only mean to be synthetic and to the point. Thank you,

Ronan Jouchet