The latest version of the Linux kernel, 2.6.16, has been released with updates supporting Sun Microsystems’ Niagara chips and a popular family of Broadcom Wi-Fi chipsets, among other changes. The kernel was last updated in early January, a change which included improved support for InfiniBand. The latest update, nicknamed “Crazed Snow-Weasel,” is substantial, with two of the main improvements being Niagara support and support for wireless cards based on the Broadcom 43xx-series chipset, provided by the bcm43xx project. The chipset is embedded in many laptops and cards, including Apple Computer’s AirPort Extreme. Other changes include improvements in support for the H.323 videoconferencing standard, on-the-fly RAID5 array resizing, user-space software suspend, and the addition of the splice(), vmsplice(), tee() and sync_file_range() system calls. The update includes a new scheduler domain optimizing CPU scheduling decisions for multicore chips, which should further improve Linux’s handling on modern hardware. In May, Devicescape Software, a company with a history of developing Wi-Fi software for embedded devices, released its Linux wireless LAN driver software to open-source developers. The move may ultimately see native Wi-Fi capabilities integrated into the Linux kernel for the first time. Currently, Linux’s Wi-Fi support is patchy at best, depending on the goodwill of hardware makers such as Intel to release drivers for their own Wi-Fi chipsets. The kernel change log can be viewed online.-Matthew Broersma, Techworld.com (London)Check out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage. Related content brandpost Who’s paying your data integration tax? Reducing your data integration tax will get you one step closer to value—let’s start today. By Sandrine Ghosh Jun 05, 2023 4 mins Data Management feature 13 essential skills for accelerating digital transformation IT leaders too often find themselves behind on business-critical transformation efforts due to gaps in the technical, leadership, and business skills necessary to execute and drive change. By Stephanie Overby Jun 05, 2023 12 mins Digital Transformation IT Skills tip 3 things CIOs must do now to accurately hit net-zero targets More than a third of the world’s largest companies are making their net-zero targets public, yet nearly all will fail to hit them if they don’t double the pace of emissions reduction by 2030. This puts leading executives, CIOs in particul By Diana Bersohn and Mauricio Bermudez-Neubauer Jun 05, 2023 5 mins CIO Accenture Emerging Technology case study Merck Life Sciences banks on RPA to streamline regulatory compliance Automated bots assisted in compliance, thereby enabling the company to increase revenue and save precious human hours, freeing up staff for higher-level tasks. By Yashvendra Singh Jun 05, 2023 5 mins Digital Transformation Robotic Process Automation Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe