Back in 2003--2004, the Linux 2.6 kernel was brand new and still in experimental mode. As a computer science student, I got knee-deep into compiling everything myself and installed the [Gentoo Linux distribution](https://gentoo.org). I followed the `vger.kernel.org` mailing list and contributed to maintaining experimental patches that included early Reiser4 and fbsplash compatibility.
- Original `2.6.8.1-klak5` kernel patchset announcement (Via Gentoo Forums): https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-224305-start-0.html
- Original `-klak` sources documentation and information: (Via archive.org): https://web.archive.org/web/20041206214508/http://jefklak.suidzer0.org/index.php?id=downloads
You can see the Gentoo installation with custom patchset running:
More recuperated screenshots can ben found in my 2020 blog post [Desktop Screenshots of Olde](/post/2020/11/desktop-screenshots-of-olde/). The patchset was compiled and written in <ahref="/tags/c"><kbd>C</kbd></a>.
In 2005, my growing interest in the FreeBSD OS and the speed at which these 2.6 patchsets grew stale eventually made me stop maintaining them. Sadly, the original source was lost over time.
