Linus Torvalds launched the fifth launch candidate of Linux 6.15 on Sunday, explaining that it was on observe with typical metrics, suggesting a secure improvement course of. Driver enhancements made up many of the adjustments (except for self-tests) on this replace, particularly networking drivers. Torvalds stated that for as soon as, GPU drivers didn’t represent most of the adjustments.

Different enhancements on this launch embrace bcachefs and smb shopper fixes. Lots of the enhancements to bcachefs had been contributed by Kent Overstreet. He made probably the most contributions on this launch with 21 patches to his identify.

The most important set of adjustments on this replace got here within the type of self-tests, they made up for about 20% of the adjustments. Kernel Newbies explains “Kernel self-tests are run in userspace for testing kernel features. They might be helpful for regression testing of latest kernels. Since they’re run in userspace, the corresponding kernel needs to be operating for assessments.” Their massive presence within the fifth launch candidate suggests builders are specializing in code reliability and validation, offering customers with a greater expertise.

Past drivers and file system enhancements, we acquired minor enhancements throughout the kernel. Listed below are some technical highlights from the discharge:

• There have been patches to resolve potential NULL pointer dereferences, reminiscence leaks, and use-after-free vulnerabilities.
• Fixes associated to particular {hardware} drivers, comparable to community (bnxt_en, mtk_eth_soc, mlx5), graphics (drm/amd/show, drm/xe), and storage (nvme-tcp, bcachefs).
• Patches addressing construct warnings and errors contribute to a cleaner and extra strong kernel construct course of.
• Enhancements and fixes within the Audio Subsystem (ASoC and ALSA) that improve audio performance and deal with points on particular {hardware}.
• Enhancements to the Inter-Built-in Circuit (I2C) and Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) subsystems for higher {hardware} communication and error dealing with.
• Fixes within the virtualization elements (KVM, IOMMU, HV drivers).
• Community scheduling and visitors management fixes (net_sched).

General, Torvalds was optimistic about this replace. Every Linux kernel launch sometimes has seven launch candidates so in about three weeks, we should always see the secure launch of Linux 6.15.