Comments on: Brain Fuck Scheduler and Kernel 2.6.33 (2.6.33-final-bfs)

By: TheChairman

TheChairman — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 20:29:43 +0000

After posting my previous comments regarding BFS kernel results with the LXDE version of PCLOS 2010, I then proceeded to remove the same BFS kernel from my Gnome-based installation (I have multiple installs on the aforementioned machine) and ‘updated’ it to the non-BFS kernel (2.6.32.15-pclos1) as well.

Same result. Synergy now performs as intended and both PCLOS installations are running smoothly, with no discernible speed difference. Your mileage may vary.

BFS may be viable in the future, but needs more work.

PCLOS is a great distribution, so (for now) my advice is to remove the BFS based kernel after installation and promptly replace it with the 2.6.32.15 kernel. Enjoy!

By: robert

robert — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 06:19:16 +0000

I know, I also noticed some performance issues with it, plus in PCLinuxOS 2010, I noticed a lot of Out Of Memory issues. The next release of my kernel will not include anymore BFS… it is really not doing so well.

By: TheChairman

TheChairman — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 01:15:48 +0000

Caveat Utilitor… BFS is one of the mistakes the distribution team made with PCLinuxOS 2010. “Badly F***ed System” might be a better translation for BFS, or Bull F***ing Sh*t. Roll your own.

If you use Synergy, BFS will keep killing it and you will lose your keyboard/mouse sharing between computers. Apparently, BFS cannot tolerate these low-cpu processes and terminates them.

I’ve installed three versions of PCLinuxOS 2010 (Gnome, LXDE, Zen) and NONE of them can keep Synergy running reliably with the BFS kernal, which is the default kernal with PCLOS 2010.

Therefore, I have removed BFS and ‘upgraded’ to the standard kernel… presto! Synergy is infinitely more stable (I’m typing this comment with it) and I expect other quirks will also disappear.

IMO, the 2009 PCLOS versions (.Tex kernal) were the best EVER versions of any Linux OS. Switching to BFS was ill-conceived.

Note that my chosen machine/hardware (local Linux based website staging/testing) is what BFS was targeted to ‘help’:

ASUS P2B-S (440 BX chipset)
Matrox G200 (Millennium)
P3 600 MHz
1 Gig RAM

Bottom line, install the standard kernel if you want stability.

By: robert

robert — Thu, 13 May 2010 18:53:40 +0000

Go to the main page on my blog and download the latest version of the kernel 2.6.33.3-soultrain. Regarding the BFS, I dont know, it should do much better.

By: midekins

midekins — Thu, 13 May 2010 18:35:27 +0000

Thank you for this, I noticed you have an i386 and an all version. Which version should I use for an x64 Kubuntu installation.

Also, how does BFS compare with a realtime kernel for audio production?