NGPT 2.0.3 Release

NGPT Release 2.0.3 is a maintenance release of the "Next Generation" of
Linux pthreads support.
This release is fully suitable as a replacement for LinuxThreads by either
a single user or group or
and entire distribution.

In this release, the primary focus was bug fixes.  For the most part, this
release contains no new
functionality.  Additionally, the kernel patches have been updated with
changes for IA64 and a few bug
fixes for the futex changes previously made.

The binary RPMs supplied with this release are based on and built for use
with a 2.4.19pre10 or better
kernel that has the new "officially" sanctioned support for NGPT.  In
addition it is necessary for
you to apply the new patch-futex-2.4.19 patch, included in this release.
This patch is based on
new functionality already provided in the 2.5 kernel that will eventually
be backported to the 2.4
kernel and support.  There is also a patch, patch-kngpt-2.4.18, that is
designed to be installed over a
standard 2.4.18 kernel from kernel.org.  NGPT takes advantage of the
functionality provided by these patches
to efficiently handle mutexes, both shared and non-shared.  This patch is
**ABSOLUTELY REQUIRED**.  NGPT
will not function without it and will abort processing during startup.  The
installation instructions
have changed a bit as well since 1.2.2 and you should check the INSTALL
file for the updated instructions.

You can build the library from source by downloading the source tarball or
source rpm and
consulting the INSTALL file.

If you are running with a 2.5.x experimental kernel, it's best that run
with 2.5.38 or higher since
it will already have the required changes for NGPT.  You will also have to
rebuild NGPT from either
the source tarball or rpm.

As an STABLE RELEASE, this release is suitable for use in a production
environment, however, it
should be noted that although we have done fairly extensive testing and you
should find this release
relatively free of problems, there may be some problems.  If you encounter
any problems with this
release please post them to the NGPT website and the development team will
address them quickly.




NGPT can be found at
http://oss.software.ibm.com/developerworks/opensource/pthreads