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We saw the release of the 2.6.26 Linux kernel this past summer, but fall is in the air, and so is a new release. Nothing truly mind-blowing has been added to 2.6.27, but as always, if you are familiar with compiling your own kernel, there are many security and system-related updates that will make sure your computer is as good as it can be.
One nice addition is the UBI File System (UBIFS) which was developed by Nokia and the University of Szeged. Unlike more common file systems, this one will not work work common block devices, like hard drives, but rather pure flash-based devices, although aside from a Solid-State Disk, I'm not sure what else there is.
It doesn't seem to be highly recommended that you jump over to this FS if you happen to have an SSD, but if you do, it would be wise to thoroughly read up on how it operates. Because SSD's have a limited number of write cycles, UBIFS seems to be smart in how it operates in order to keep the drive healthy. Chances are there are few who are using SSDs on Linux right now outside of a server environment, but the option is now here for those who do.
Other notable additions include an ext4 upgrade to improve performance under certain workloads, multiqueue networking, improved video camera support using the gspca driver, a voltage and current regulator framework, and a lot more. If you happen to own an ASUS Xonar D1, you'll be happy to know that support has been added for that, and the same goes for Intel's latest wireless 5000AGN chipset.
UBIFS does not work with what many people considers flash devices like flash-based hard drives, SD cards, USB sticks, etc; because those devices use a block device emulation layer called FTL (Flash Translation Layer) that make they look like traditional block-based storage devices to the outside world. UBIFS instead is designed to work with flash devices that do not have a block device emulation layer and that are handled by the MTD subsystem and present themselves to userspace as MTD devices.
Source: Kernel Newbies
One nice addition is the UBI File System (UBIFS) which was developed by Nokia and the University of Szeged. Unlike more common file systems, this one will not work work common block devices, like hard drives, but rather pure flash-based devices, although aside from a Solid-State Disk, I'm not sure what else there is.
It doesn't seem to be highly recommended that you jump over to this FS if you happen to have an SSD, but if you do, it would be wise to thoroughly read up on how it operates. Because SSD's have a limited number of write cycles, UBIFS seems to be smart in how it operates in order to keep the drive healthy. Chances are there are few who are using SSDs on Linux right now outside of a server environment, but the option is now here for those who do.
Other notable additions include an ext4 upgrade to improve performance under certain workloads, multiqueue networking, improved video camera support using the gspca driver, a voltage and current regulator framework, and a lot more. If you happen to own an ASUS Xonar D1, you'll be happy to know that support has been added for that, and the same goes for Intel's latest wireless 5000AGN chipset.
UBIFS does not work with what many people considers flash devices like flash-based hard drives, SD cards, USB sticks, etc; because those devices use a block device emulation layer called FTL (Flash Translation Layer) that make they look like traditional block-based storage devices to the outside world. UBIFS instead is designed to work with flash devices that do not have a block device emulation layer and that are handled by the MTD subsystem and present themselves to userspace as MTD devices.
Source: Kernel Newbies