Linux Kernel 5.x Releases

mood · Apr 5, 2020

Linux 5.6 Kernel Released With WireGuard, USB4, New AMD + Intel Hardware Support
March 29, 2020
https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Linux-5.6-Released

Linus Torvalds just announced the release of the Linux 5.6 stable kernel a few minutes ago. This also means the Linux 5.7 merge window is now open for business.
The Linux kernel creator announced, [...]
See our Linux 5.6 feature overview for all the big changes in this kernel from WireGuard's long awaited introduction to initial USB4 support to various new Intel, AMD, and Arm hardware enablement.

This weekend I also penned a shorter the best features of Linux 5.6 if you are short on time.
Linux 5.7 is now open for landing of new feature work for the next two weeks.
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Linux 5.6 is out with USB4 and GeForce RTX GPU support, plus much more

Linux 5.6 Kernel Released (March 29, 2020)

reasonablePrivacy · Apr 28, 2020

Kolivas Takes Break From Designing COVID-19 Equipment To Release Linux 5.6-ck1 + MuQSS

Con Kolivas is out with his Linux 5.6-ck1 optimization patch-set and version 0.199 of the MuQSS scheduler. This re-base against the Linux 5.6 stable kernel is coming late due to Kolivas leading a team making 3D printed COVID-19 equipment in Australia.
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mood · Jun 1, 2020

Linux 5.7 Kernel Released With New Apple Driver, Official Intel Gen12 Graphics
May 31, 2020
https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Linux-5.7-Released

As expected, Linus Torvalds just released the stable Linux 5.7 kernel.

Linus commented in the 5.7 release announcement, "So we had a fairly calm last week, with nothing really screaming "let's delay one more rc". Knock wood - let's hope we don't have anything silly lurking this time, like the last-minute wifi regression we had in 5.6.. But embarrassing regressions last time notwithstanding, it all looks fine."
As usual, the new kernel can be fetched from Kernel.org.
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As far as Linux 5.7 goes there are many new features and improvements like an Apple USB "Fast Charge" driver, Intel Tiger Lake "Gen12" graphics are now deemed stable and promoted out of the experimental flag, AMD Renoir graphics are in good shape, F2FS Zstd support, Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 support on this mainline kernel, and a lot more. See our Linux 5.7 feature overview to learn more about this new stable kernel release.
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Linux 5.7 Kernel Released (June 1, 2020)

reasonablePrivacy · Jun 5, 2020

F2FS Zstd support.
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Yay! I like F2FS more and more.

mood · Jul 26, 2020

Following Many Patches, Linux 5.9 Finally Switching To HTTPS Links En Masse
July 25, 2020
https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Linux-5.9-HTTPS-Links

On the mailing lists and browsing various Git "-next" repositories it's felt like "damn, there are a lot of patches about replacing HTTP links with HTTPS all of a sudden" inside the kernel sources and documentation.
Indeed, for Linux 5.9 where applicable HTTP links are being replaced for HTTPS.

The basis for all of these patches are to "reduce attack surface on kernel devs opening the links for [man in the middle attacks] as HTTPS traffic is much harder to manipulate."

This isn't some concerted effort but the replacing HTTP with HTTPS links is done by Alexander Klimov, who has contributed to the Linux kernel over the years.
So with that come Linux 5.9 the in-kernel/documentation links are looking to finally be HTTPS where applicable.
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mood · Aug 3, 2020

Linux 5.8 Released With AMD Energy Driver, F2FS LZO-RLE, IBM POWER10 Booting
August 2, 2020
https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Linux-5.8-Released

Linus Torvalds was debating up to the last minutes today of whether to opt for Linux 5.8-rc8 or go ahead and release Linux 5.8 as stable... He opted for Linux 5.8 splashing down on this historic day.

Linus wrote in the 5.8 release announcement that despite this cycle being very large, it turned out fairly well and didn't need a 5.8-rc8 release. Though due to some last minute changes, he does dream of having a sort of SAT-solver for symbol dependencies that would work across architectures and configurations for cleaning up the Linux kernel header file dependency mess. But that for now is just a dream.
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See our Linux 5.8 feature overview for all the exciting changes from an AMD Energy Driver for Zen/Zen2 CPUs to new F2FS compression capabilities, POWER10 CPUs starting to boot with the mainline kernel code, power management improvements, and much more. This is also the first major kernel release featuring the new inclusive terminology guidelines.

Linux 5.8 is the kernel that should be found by default in the likes of Ubuntu 20.10.
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Softpedia: Linus Torvalds Releases the “Really Big” Linux Kernel 5.8

New in this fresh version of the kernel are the updated drivers that add support for a series of Adreno GPU chips like the 405, 640, and 650 versions, the new Spectre patches, as well as exFAT refinements.

Radeon drivers are also getting improved support in this release, and so is the POWER10 chip whose launch is currently projected to happen sometime next year.

“In the 5.8 merge window we have modified about 20% of all the files in the kernel source repository. That's really a fairly big percentage, and while some of it _is_ scripted, on the whole it's really just the same pattern: 5.8 has simply seen a lot of development,” Torvalds said.
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mood · Oct 12, 2020

Linux 5.9 Released With Initial AMD RDNA 2 GPU Enablement, Other New Hardware Support
October 11, 2020
https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Linux-5.9-Released

Linus Torvalds has just released Linux 5.9 as stable.

Linux 5.9 is out as the 2020 autumn kernel update. Linux 5.9 has a number of exciting improvements including initial support for upcoming Radeon RX 6000 "RDNA 2" graphics cards, initial Intel Rocket Lake graphics, NVMe zoned namespaces (ZNS) support, various storage improvements, IBM's initial work on POWER10 CPU bring-up, the FSGSBASE instruction is now used, 32-bit x86 Clang build support, and more. See our Linux 5.9 feature overview for the whole scoop on the many changes to see with this kernel.
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Linus Torvalds wrote in his 5.9 announcement, "Ok, so I'll be honest - I had hoped for quite a bit fewer changes this last week, but at the same time there doesn't really seem to be anything particularly scary in here. It's just more commits and more lines changed than I would have wished for."
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After 5 Years, FSGSBASE Support Finally Ready For Linux To Enhance AMD/Intel Performance (August 4, 2020)

mood · Oct 26, 2020

release candidate
Linux 5.10 is a bigger kernel release than expected and sees the removal of setf_fs()
October 26, 2020
https://betanews.com/2020/10/26/linux-5-10-kernel-release/

With first release candidate of version 5.10 of the Linux kernel now available, Linus Torvalds says that it "looks to be a bigger release" than he expected.

Linux kernel 5.10-rc1 includes 14-15,000 merge commits -- depending on how you count them -- Torvalds notes in his weekly update to the Linux community. He shares the news that, for him, the most interesting change in this release is the removal of the setf_fs() addressing tool.
Torvalds concedes that getting rid of setf_fs() is not exactly an Earth-shattering change, but it is an important one nonetheless.
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You can see his full post -- which includes the full mergelog -- here.
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reasonablePrivacy · Oct 26, 2020

mood said: ↑

release candidate
Linux 5.10 is a bigger kernel release than expected and sees the removal of setf_fs()
October 26, 2020
https://betanews.com/2020/10/26/linux-5-10-kernel-release/
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It's probably not worth to post here about release candidates, because usually there are around 7 rc published before final kernel release. It means that 5.10 is expected to be released around mid-December.
Anyway Linux 5.10 will be interesting release for consumers, because there are improvements for hibernation, ext4 filesystem performance in some use-cases and even memory allocation for GPUs. Linux 5.10 will be a LTS release.

mood · Dec 14, 2020

Linux 5.10 LTS is here as a significant kernel update
December 14, 2020
https://betanews.com/2020/12/14/linux-5-10-lts-released/

Linus Torvalds has official announced the availability of version 5.10 of the Linux kernel. This release is significant not only because of the number of new features and fixes it includes, but also because it is a Long-Term Support (LTS) release that will enjoy five years of maintenance.

In his release notes for Linux 5.10, Torvalds also calls upon developers working on version 5.11 to submit changes in plenty of time for Christmas.
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In a post yesterday, Torvalds says:

"Ok, here it is -- 5.10 is tagged and pushed out. I pretty much always wish that the last week was even calmer than it was, and that's true here too. There's a fair amount of fixes in here, including a few last-minute reverts for things that didn't get fixed, but nothing makes me go "we need another week". Things look fairly normal".
Key changes in this release include a new fix for the Spectre vulnerability, a fix for the year 2038 problem (sort of Y2K all over again) and numerous performance improvements.
But the creator of the Linux kernel is already looking forward. He says: [...]
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reasonablePrivacy · Jan 3, 2021

mood said: ↑

Linux 5.10 LTS is here as a significant kernel update
December 14, 2020
https://betanews.com/2020/12/14/linux-5-10-lts-released/
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There were some important fixes for Device Mapper, F2FS allowing creating files with the same name in same directory in 5.10.1 - 5.10.3. I even saw some claims about 5.10.1 corrupting file F2FS systems. I still stick to 5.9.* series until things get tested in downstream distributions and everything settle down.
Anyway Con Kolivas released updated MuQSS patchset for 5.10 Linux kernel.
https://ck-hack.blogspot.com/2020/12/linux-510-ck1-muqss-version-0205-for.html

mood · Apr 26, 2021

Linus Torvalds: Linux 5.12 is a small release but the next one is going to be bigger
This latest update to the Linux kernel might be modest but includes some new features, and the next update is likely to be larger.
April 26, 2021
https://www.zdnet.com/article/linus...lease-but-the-next-one-is-going-to-be-bigger/

Linus Torvalds announced the arrival of the Linux kernel 5.12 on Sunday, which he flagged as a small update – but one that will be followed by bigger changes in version 5.13.

"Both the shortlog (appended) and the diffstat are absolutely tiny, and it's mainly just a random collection of small fixes in various areas," Torvalds noted.
"Despite the extra week, this was actually a fairly small release overall. Judging by linux-next, 5.13 will be making up for it," wrote Torvalds.
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This kernel version also brings improved support for Lenovo laptop hardware profiles thanks to work from Lenovo and Red Hat engineers. This lets users change a laptop's power and performance levels, which affects thermal and fan-speed behavior.

Torvalds notes that some AMD and Intel i915 GPU fixes "stand out" in this release. The Intel GPU fixes in this version of the kernel refer to an option to disable Intel integrated graphics security mitigations for the so-called iGPU leak.
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Linux 5.12 Released With Intel Xe Variable Rate Refresh, Clang LTO, KFENCE + More
April 25, 2021
https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Linux-5.12-Released

Linux 5.12 brings Intel Variable Rate Refresh (VRR / Adaptive-Sync), Radeon RX 6000 series overclocking support, mainline support for the Nintendo 64, the Sony PlayStation 5 DualSense controller driver, CXL 2.0 Type-3 memory device support, KFENCE, dynamic preemption capabilities, Clang link-time optimizations, laptop support improvements, and much more.

See our complete Linux 5.12 feature overview for a more exhaustive list of the changes of interest to us.

The Linux 5.13 merge window is now open with many changes expected. Linux 5.13 will be a big kernel release that in turn is likely to see the light of day around the end of June.
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mood · Jun 28, 2021

Linux 5.13 Released With Apple M1 Bringup, Landlock, FreeSync HDMI + Much More
June 27, 2021
https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Linux-5.13-Released

Linus Torvalds has just released the Linux 5.13 kernel as stable.
Linux 5.13 was just tagged and is ready to go. The kernel is shipping under the new "Opossums on Parade" codename that was put in place last week.

Linux 5.13 brings initial but still early support for the Apple M1 with basic support but not yet accelerated graphics and a lot more to iron out moving ahead. There are also new Linux 5.13 security features like the Landlock LSM, Clang CFI support, and optionally randomizing the kernel stack offset at each system call. There is also AMD fun this cycle around FreeSync HDMI support, initial Aldebaran bring-up, and more. Intel has more work on Alder Lake, a new cooling driver, and more discrete graphics bring-up. There are also other changes for Linux 5.13 around faster IO_uring, a generic USB display driver, and other new hardware enablement.
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See the top features of Linux 5.13 or the complete Linux 5.13 feature overview.

Update: Linus Torvalds has now posted his 5.13 announcement,

"So we had quite the calm week since rc7, and I see no reason to delay 5.13. The shortlog for the week is tiny, with just 88 non-merge commits (and a few of those are just reverts)...Of course, if the last week was small and calm, 5.13 overall is actually fairly large. In fact, it's one of the bigger 5.x releases, with over 16k commits (over 17k if you count merges), from over 2k developers. But it's a "big all over" kind of thing, not something particular that stands out as particularly unusual."
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