Other goodies in the v2.6 kernel include integrated IPSec support, with the inclusion of the Kame Project; enhanced support for network file systems, including support for mounting Novell NetWare shares; initial NFSv4 (Network File System Version 4) support; and performance and compatibility enhancements with SMB (Server Message Block) shares, including support for CIFS (Common Internet File System). The v2.6 kernel also sports a brand new security architecture that departs somewhat from the standard Unix root user concept; its modular security mechanism provides a greater level of granularity to privileged user management.
Also introduced in the v2.6 kernel is a new approach to devices. The v2.4 kernel's devfs-based device handler has a companion in the v2.6 kernel. The newcomer is udev and is an implementation of devfs, but in userspace. Using udev, the system is able to follow devices as they move around on connected busses, with the device identifier remaining static.
