The not-for-profit Linux advocacy group introduced STP in 2001 to provide test suites to validate changes in the Linux kernel, track performance and quantify stability. Although targeted primarily and Linux kernel developers, STP also enables enterprises to test patches and modified Linux systems to stability and performance.
STP has been used in the development of the Linux kernel, particularly in the transition phase from version 2.5 to 2.6 at the end of last year. Version 3.0 of STP broadens the range of features that can be used to test the impact of different workloads on other open source technologies, such as the MySQL, PostgreSQL and SAPDb databases.
New cross-compile filters have also been added to enable testing against multiple processor architectures, including Power, Sparc, x86_64 and Alpha.
