Observational humor

[me-5yx05kfkO/aqeI1yJSURBw at public.gmane.org (Matthew Gillen)]

markw-FJ05HQ0HCKaWd6l5hS35sQ at public.gmane.org wrote:
> I'm compiling a custom Linux kernel.  Sort of walking down memory lane as
> it were. Can someone please explain to me how doing this in 2009, with a
> very fast dual core CPU and very fast SATA disks takes LONGER than it did
> back in 1999 (10 years ago)? (rhetorical question)
> 
> I mean come on? How much faster are systems today than 10 years ago? Has
> the Linux kernel REALLY grown that much?

FWIW, Kernel 2.2 was released in 1999 [1].  Take a look at [2], a nice graph
of the SLOC count (only goes up to 2.6.25).

According to that, the SLOC count has more than tripled from 1999.  By
contrast, during that same time Moore's Law was broken, and processor speeds
languished for a while.

So I think the results you're seeing are mildly surprising, but believable.

1)http://www.linux.org/info/linux_timeline.html
2)http://ldn.linuxfoundation.org/blog-entry/more-milestones-linux-kernel-development-history

Matt