Agreed. For things that have to get done (vs. entertaining oneself) I would be perfectly happy with DOS, DesqView, WordPerfect 4.1 (or was it 4.2), Qmodem and a few others that don't immediately come to mind.
:)

I still got a machine (486/dx2) with WP 6.0, MS-Word 6.0 (running in WfW 3.11), dBase 5 and SuperCalc 5.1 spreadsheet.
Don't use it much anymore, but everything still works, including my self-written database program in TurboPascal 3.0
It normally evens networks (LAN only and no server functions) but I currently have a problem with the network card for which I will have to open the case - the card probably moved a bit when I inserted the tape drive adaptor).

It would seem to me that this is a major blunder (serious mistake) and would warrant a 5.6.1 fix as soon as possible, but I don't see that anything is being done. But, OTOH, what do I know. :scratch:

Has anyone tried 5.6 stable yet, along with nvidia drivers? Just built it locally, basing from slackware's generic config, although nvidia kernel module fails to build.

Year 2020, Round 21

Another batch of kernel updates has been scheduled for release Thursday, 2 April 2020, at approximately 09:00, GMT.

If no problems are found while testing the release candidates, they might be available sometime late Wednesday or early Thursday (depending on your time zone).

There will be 23 patches in the 5.6.1 update, 170 in 5.5.14 and 155 in the 5.4.29 update.

The details:

5.6.1-rc1, http://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/k...3.3/08055.html

5.5.14-rc1, http://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/k...3.3/08088.html

5.4.29-rc1, http://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/k...3.3/08372.html


I maybe reading it wrong, but it doesn't appear the Intel WiFi problem is fixed in 5.6.1.

A second round of release candidates has been announced.

There will be 171 patches in 5.5.14 update and 156 patches in the 5.4.29 update.

The details,

5.5.14-rc2, http://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/k...3.3/08819.html

5.4.29-rc2, http://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/k...3.3/08818.html

Someone has brought the 5.6.x wifi problem to their attention. Now we'll have to wait and see if they take any action.

http://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/k...3.3/09410.html

There is an unofficial patch available here:
https://gitlab.com/snippets/1945940
Just follow the instructions provided to build it.

Tested it myself on 5.6 stable and it works just fine in my case with this patch applied. Still.... it would probably be better to wait for an official driver from NVIDIA.

5.4.29 has been released

Kernel updates 5.6.1, 5.5.14 and 5.4.29 are now available at,

https://www.kernel.org/

The change logs,

https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/ker...hangeLog-5.6.1

https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/ker...angeLog-5.5.14

https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/ker...angeLog-5.4.29


Tne wifi problem with the 5.6 kernel has not been repaired.
:doh:
This has been public knowledge for two days and he didn't know about it?
http://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/k...4.0/00044.html

and

http://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/k...4.0/00045.html

The guy must live in a cave.

Year 2020, Round 22

Another batch of kernel updates has been scheduled for release Friday, 3 April 2020, at approximately 16:00, GMT.

If no problems are found while testing the release candidates, they might be available sometime late Thursday or early Friday (depending on your time zone).

There will be 10 patches in the 5.6.2 update, 30 patches in the 5.5.15 update, 27 in 5.4.30, 116 in 4.19.114, 148 in 4.14.175, 102 in 4.9.218 and, finally, 91 patches in the 4.4.218 update.

The details:

5.6.2-rc1, http://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/k...4.0/00732.html

5.5.15-rc1, http://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/k...4.0/01288.html

5.4.30-rc1, http://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/k...4.0/00779.html

4.19.114-rc1, http://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/k...4.0/00815.html

4.14.175-rc1, http://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/k...4.0/01085.html

4.9.218-rc1, http://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/k...4.0/01018.html

4.4.218-rc1, http://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/k...4.0/00903.html


Tne WiFi problem with the 5.6 kernel will be patched in the 5.6.2 update.

Kernel update 5.6.2 is now available at,

https://www.kernel.org/

The change log, https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/ker...hangeLog-5.6.2

The Intel WiFi problem has been fixed,

Once the NVidia blob is updated to work on this (without patching) I'm in :)

MPlayer problem fixed
 

Have discovered that an entry ao=alsa is needed in ~/.mplayer/config

This fixes the 100% cpu loop 5.5.12 and later - strace gave:

write(2, "[AO OSS] Can't set audio device "..., 74) = 74
ioctl(4, SNDCTL_DSP_SETFMT, 0xffda03f0) = -1 ENXIO (No such device or address)

5.4.30 has been released