Linux Kernel 6.11 RC5 Released: Steady Progress and Driver Improvements

Linus Torvalds announced the fifth release candidate (RC5) of the Linux Kernel version 6.11. This release contains a variety of relatively small changes, primarily focused on drivers, particularly for networking and GPUs.

Other updates include improvements to filesystems like bcachefs, erofs, and smb, along with core networking enhancements and architecture updates.

Table of Contents

• Release Timing
• Overview of Changes in Linux Kernel 6.11 RC5
• Notable Updates
• Try Linux Kernel 6.11 RC5

Release Timing

Torvalds made an unusual decision regarding the release timing. He delayed the release to align better with the typical Sunday schedule, despite being in a different time zone. This adjustment ensured consistency with the usual release pattern.

Overview of Changes in Linux Kernel 6.11 RC5

The RC5 release shows a relatively flat diffstat, indicating mostly small changes across the kernel. Here's a breakdown of the main areas of improvement:

Drivers:

• Networking and GPU drivers saw the most updates, following the usual trend.
• Various other driver subsystems received minor improvements and bug fixes.

File Systems:

• bcachefs received several updates and bug fixes.
• SMB and EROFS file systems also saw some improvements.

Networking:

• Core networking components underwent some updates.

Architecture-specific Changes:

• Various architecture-specific updates were included, though details were not specified.

Notable Updates

GPU Drivers:

• AMD GPU drivers saw fixes for eGPU hotplug regression and TA binary size validation.
• Intel's Xe graphics driver received multiple updates, including fixes for memory management and hardware workarounds.

Networking:

• TCP received a fix to prevent concurrent execution of tcp_sk_exit_batch.
• UDP fraglist GSO packet reception was improved.

File Systems:

• bcachefs saw numerous fixes and improvements, including better error handling and performance optimizations.
• SMB server and client received several bug fixes.

Input Devices:

• Various touchscreen and input device drivers were updated with new device support and bug fixes.

A detailed log of specific changes made by individual contributors is included in the full release notes.

Try Linux Kernel 6.11 RC5

We encourage the users and developers to test Kernel 6.11-rc5 release thoroughly by downloading it from the Kernel.org website or the Linus Torvalds's git tree and report any issues they encounter.

Torvalds expressed confidence in the safety of the changes, but as always, widespread testing is crucial to ensure stability and catch any remaining issues.

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