The second Linux kernel of 2009 is released, 2.6.30 has a long list of improvements, which makes Linux a lot faster & more secure.

One of the most noticeable elements in the new release is the kernel inclusion of fastboot, an enhancement designed to speed startup for Linux-based systems.
Other major improvements are new filesystem support, security & driver improvements.

"I'm sure we've missed something, and I know we have some regressions pending," Linux creator Linus Torvalds said in his mailing list announcement for the new kernel.

As mentioned Fastboot's inclusion in the kernel is one of the release's major improvements, providing a mechanism for faster startup times within the mainline kernel itself.
That's a something of a new approach, considering that Linux distributions have already been implementing their own approaches for faster startup times. The Ubuntu Jaunty release, for example, claims a 25-second boot time while Red Hat's Fedora 11 claims a 20-second boot time, LinuxPlanet reports.