Updated Linux 2.4.9/2.4.10 kernel preemption patches

Updated patches are at:
http://tech9.net/rml/linux/patch-rml-2.4.9-ac3-preempt-kernel-1
and,
http://tech9.net/rml/linux/patch-rml-2.4.10-pre2-preempt-kernel-1
for kernels 2.4.9-ac3 and 2.4.10-pre2.

These are updates of Nigel Gamble's kernel preemption patches for recent kernels. See http://kpreempt.sourceforge.net/. These patches create a configure option to enable a preemptible kernel using SMP lock points. A preemptible kernel will yield control of execution to higher priority processes as needed. Ie, the process timeslice now applies to kernel space.

Changes since my previous patch:
* update for 2.4.9-ac3 and 2.4.10-pre2
* fix the compile bug (yay!) -- the linking dependency of dec_and_lock requires CONFIG_HAVE_DEC_LOCK which SMP sets in recent kernels. now CONFIG_PREEMPT sets, too

So, yes, this should fix the kernel compile buggy. At least it did for me, after I was finally able to reproduce the problem.

Enjoy and please comment, test, and benchmark.

Robert M. Love
rml at ufl.edu
rml at tech9.net