Linux Kernel 6.18-rc1 released
Linus Torvalds has announced the release of the first release candidate for Linux Kernel 6.18. This release is the end of a two-week merge window during which many developers worked on improving the kernel. The codebase that came out of that merge window looks stable and is about the right size. Most of the changes were to drivers, which made up about half of the changes.
The other changes, on the other hand, include a wide range of improvements to different subsystems, such as virtual file systems (VFS), file systems, architecture updates, tooling changes, and a lot of support for the Rust programming language. This release is important not just because of what it contains, but also because it shows how open-source development works.
Torvalds himself is hopeful about the outcome of this merge window. He says that the success he had during testing is a positive sign that the kernel will perform better overall. Many people who worked on different parts of the kernel have had a big impact on this release.
Some of these developers are well-known, like Al Viro and Andrew Morton, who made important changes in many areas, such as VFS mount, FS_context, NFS control, audit updates, memory management, and other small changes. Christian Brauner also made important contributions to many VFS features, which shows that file management operations are growing in all areas.
This release is also a big step toward adding support for the Rust programming language to the Linux kernel. This change should make the kernel more secure, reliable, and fast, and it will also give developers more flexible and efficient ways to help with its development.
Linux kernel 6.18-rc1 released
Linux kernel version 6.18-rc1 is now available:
Full source: https://git.kernel.org/torvalds/t/linux-6.18-rc1.tar.gz
Patch: https://git.kernel.org/torvalds/p/v6.18-rc1/v6.17
You can view the summary of the changes at the following URL:
https://git.kernel.org/torvalds/ds/v6.18-rc1/v6.17
