One week after the release of rc5, the Linux kernel 5.17 rc6 is released in a usual schedule. Linus Torvalds has stated that the week was not a normal one, obviously because of political reasons, but it did not affect the schedule of the Linux kernel development. That’s being said, the schedule is getting late for other reasons.
Even Torvalds does not think it was a normal week
Linus Torvalds has written his thoughts about the release of a new Linux kernel version, as always he does. He says some known regressions remain from the Linux kernel 5.17 rc1, and it looks like he is not happy about it. Linus Torvalds, developer of Linux kernel said;
« Nobody can claim that last week was *normal*, but whatever crazy things are going on in the world (and I personally had “Zombie apocalypse” on my bingo card, not “Putin has a mental breakdown”), it doesn’t seem to have affected the kernel much.
Things continue to look normal both in commit numbers and in diffstats. We have the usual bulk being drivers (networking, GPU, iio, clk, and USB stand out, but there’s a smattering of other stuff), with the rest being mixed. The only thing that stands out as a bit unusual is some further btrfs defrag fixes. But even they stand out not so much because they are enormous, as just because they are bigger than most of the rest, which is pretty small.
Other notable areas: core networking, tracing, and selftests. As usual, details are in the appended shortlog.
While things look reasonably normal, we _are_ getting pretty late in the release, and we still have a number of known regressions. They don’t seem all that big and scary, but some of them were reported right after the rc1 release, so they are getting a bit long in the tooth. I’d hate to have to delay 5.17 just because of them, and I’m starting to be a bit worried here. I think all the affected maintainers know who they are…
So if you are a subsystem maintainer, and you have one of those regressions on your list, please go make them a priority. And if you don’t know what I’m talking about, please do look up the reports by regzbot and Guenter Roeck. I added links below to make it really easy.
But on the whole, things look fine. Just a few remaining warts is all. But the more testing to verify, the better. »
ReiserFS will be removed
As Linus Torvalds releases the new release candidate of the Linux kernel 5.17, the removal of the ReiserFS file system has been declared via patch notes for the v2 version. Jan Kara has released a new patch, which changes only the target year of the file system. Jan Kara has explained the situation as follows:
« Reiserfs is a relatively old filesystem and its development has ceased quite some years ago. Linux distributions moved away from it towards other filesystems such as btrfs, xfs, or ext4. To reduce the maintenance burden on cross filesystem changes (such as new mount API, iomap, folios…) let’s add a deprecation notice when the filesystem is mounted and schedule its removal to 2025. »
The ReiserFS file system was the target of several controversies since its developer, Hans Reiser, had murdered his wife in 2006. The file system was almost revolutionary in its time, speeding up the systems quite a lot. As Hans Reiser has been found guilty, he sold his company Nemesys for legal fees.
FAQ
What is the most recent Linux kernel?
Currently, the most recent Linux kernel version is 6.1. The 6.2 version is expected to be released in the middle of February 2023.
How do you check the installed Linux kernel version?
You can check the Linux kernel version of your system with three different methods. You can simply use uname -r command to quickly check the Linux kernel version. You can also use cat /proc/version to check the version from a file. Installing the neofetch application is also an option to check the kernel version and it provides additional information about the other packages installed as well.
Can the Linux kernel be customized?
Yes, the Linux kernel can be customized. You can customize the Linux kernel by enabling or disabling specific options, and even adding new functionalities. But it’s a complicated process; you can check online guides about customizing the Linux kernel.
Is it legal to edit the Linux kernel?
Yes, it is legal to edit the Linux kernel since it is under General Public License.
Is the Linux kernel open source?
Yes, the Linux kernel is an open-source project.
Who developed the Linux kernel?
Linus Torvalds has developed and still developing the Linux kernel.
Does Linus Torvalds still work on Linux?
Yes, Linus Torvalds still works on developing the Linux kernel.
What is the Linux kernel written in?
Linux kernel code is written in the standard C programming language.