Linus Torvalds has announced the release of Linux 6.18-rc1, marking the start of the release candidate phase for the upcoming kernel version.
In his typical straightforward style, Torvalds noted that the merge window concluded smoothly after two weeks, with the new candidate tagged and pushed out to developers and testers worldwide.
This iteration appears unremarkable in scale, sitting comfortably in the middle of recent release sizes, and the shortlog of merges reveals no glaring anomalies.
The bulk of changes, about half the diffstat, centers on drivers, reflecting the kernel’s ongoing evolution to support a widening array of hardware.
The remainder spans virtual file systems (VFS) and filesystems, architecture updates (heavily influenced by device tree enhancements, which blur into driver territory), tooling improvements, and continued Rust integration for kernel modules.
Torvalds highlighted a positive note: this was one of those rare merge windows where he avoided bisecting issues on his test machines, suggesting broader stability might follow suit as testing intensifies.
Linux Kernel 6.18-rc1 Released
Driver updates dominate, with contributions from maintainers like Alex Williamson bolstering VFIO for virtual function I/O, essential for virtualization environments.
Greg Kroah-Hartman handled a swath of peripheral drivers, including USB, Thunderbolt, and staging code, while Bjorn Helgaas patched PCI fixes to ensure reliable device enumeration.
Graphics saw Dave Airlie’s DRM updates and fixes, vital for modern displays and GPUs. Architecture-specific work includes Borislav Petkov’s extensive x86 overhaul, covering instruction decoders, microcode loading, and mitigations for vulnerabilities like Spectre.
Arm64 and RISC-V received tweaks from Will Deacon and Paul Walmsley, respectively, aiding embedded and server deployments.
Power management, under Rafael Wysocki, refined ACPI and thermal controls, optimizing energy efficiency across laptops and data centers.
Networking and I/O layers advanced too, with Paolo Abeni’s updates to core networking stacks and Jens Axboe’s io_uring enhancements for asynchronous operations, boosting performance in high-throughput applications.
Filesystems and Security
VFS saw significant polishing from Al Viro and Christian Brauner, including mount updates, inode handling, and Rust bindings to modernize file operations.
Filesystems like ext4 (Ted Ts’o), Btrfs (David Sterba), and XFS (Carlos Maiolino) incorporated fixes and optimizations for data integrity and speed.
Security remains a priority, with Kees Cook’s hardening efforts, seccomp refinements, and Eric Biggers’ fscrypt and crypto library updates, including interleaved SHA-256 support.
BPF from Alexei Starovoitov added fixes for eBPF programs, enhancing kernel observability without compromising safety. Paul McKenney’s RCU tweaks and Thomas Gleixner’s IRQ and timer core updates ensure low-latency responsiveness, crucial for real-time systems.
This rc1 signals a kernel maturing toward broader hardware support and developer tools, with Rust’s foothold promising safer code.
While no blockbuster features emerge, the cumulative refinements spanning over 100 contributors fortify Linux’s position in servers, mobiles, and IoT.
Testers are urged to hammer it with workloads; full stability could arrive by December, barring regressions. As Torvalds quips, hoping his smooth ride extends to the ecosystem, 6.18 looks poised for a solid release.
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