Greg Kroah-Hartman Ships Linux Kernel 6.1.179, 6.6.146, and 6.12.99
The longterm stable trees get massive patches, with GPU drivers and WiFi chipsets driving the bulk of the changes.
Greg Kroah-Hartman pushed three longterm kernel updates to kernel.org on July 29, 2026. If you are running a production box or a distribution that tracks stable trees, it is time to roll out updates. The new releases are Linux 6.1.179, 6.6.146, and 6.12.99.
These are not feature drops. Stable kernels are strictly for bug fixes and security hardening, and this week's batch is no exception. The scale is what stands out. 6.1.179 touched 14,824 files. 6.6.146 changed 13,526. Even the youngest tree in the group, 6.12.99, still reworked 11,249 files. The patch bundles themselves weigh in at roughly 46 MB, 35 MB, and 28 MB respectively. That is a lot of code moving in a single weekly cycle.
The GPU stack leads the pack
Every single one of these releases sees over a thousand DRM and GPU files altered. That consistent number tells you exactly where the maintenance burden sits right now. Intel, AMD, NVIDIA, and ARM Mali drivers are getting constant backports of fixes, and the older 6.1 tree shows the most accumulated changes there, at 1,077 files.
Networking follows a similar pattern. Ethernet drivers took up about 600 to 800 files across the three releases, while wireless saw between 321 and 444 files patched. The staging/rtl8712 driver, which handles Realtek 802.11n adapters, got updated in all three trees with exactly 101 files changed each time. It is still waiting for its full mainline merge, but the fact that maintainers are actively scrubbing it every week suggests that deadline keeps slipping.
Rust driver support is quietly becoming a regular fixture in stable releases. You will see 71 Rust-related file changes in 6.1.179, 61 in 6.12.99, and 27 in 6.6.146. The older tree sees the biggest jump because new Rust drivers written for mainline are getting aggressively backported to longterm branches as they stabilize. Enterprise users on older kernels will appreciate the memory safety gains, even if it means more compiler churn during updates.
Architecture coverage tells a longer story. arm64 dominates every release with roughly 430 to 480 files changed. x86 follows at 185 to 370 files. The interesting shift is happening on the periphery. LoongArch support has grown steadily from the 6.1 tree into 6.12, reflecting Loongson's push for mainline compatibility in domestic Chinese hardware. Meanwhile, 32-bit ARM activity drops off noticeably in the 6.12 tree, which tracks perfectly with the industry moving toward 64-bit-only mobile and server platforms.
It is a rather heavy update for a Tuesday, though the patch sizes are in line with what you would expect from a mature codebase. The 6.1 tree hits end of life in December 2027, and 6.6 follows the same month. If you are still on an older branch, the clock is ticking. You can grab the full tarballs and apply the patches directly from kernel.org, or wait for your distribution to mirror the changes over the next few days. For those tracking the mainline, 7.2-rc5 landed on July 26, so the development cycle keeps moving forward right alongside the stable releases.
Linux kernel 6.1.179 released
Linux kernel version 6.1.179 is now available:
Full source: https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v6.x/linux-6.1.179.tar.xz
Patch: https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v6.x/patch-6.1.179.xz
PGP Signature: https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v6.x/linux-6.1.179.tar.sign
You can view the summary of the changes at the following URL:
https://git.kernel.org/stable/ds/v6.1.179/v6.1.178
Linux kernel 6.6.146 released
Linux kernel version 6.6.146 is now available:
Full source: https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v6.x/linux-6.6.146.tar.xz
Patch: https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v6.x/patch-6.6.146.xz
PGP Signature: https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v6.x/linux-6.6.146.tar.sign
You can view the summary of the changes at the following URL:
https://git.kernel.org/stable/ds/v6.6.146/v6.6.145
Linux kernel 6.12.99 released
Linux kernel version 6.12.99 is now available:
Full source: https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v6.x/linux-6.12.99.tar.xz
Patch: https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v6.x/patch-6.12.99.xz
PGP Signature: https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v6.x/linux-6.12.99.tar.sign
You can view the summary of the changes at the following URL:
https://git.kernel.org/stable/ds/v6.12.99/v6.12.98
