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Linus Torvalds has released Linux 7.0-rc1 and called on the community to test it.
Linus Torvalds announced the release of the first Linux 7.0 kernel release candidate and at the same time speculated about his own professional future with characteristic self-irony.
"You all already know the ritual: two weeks have passed, the merge window is closed," he wrote in a post announcing Linux 7.0-rc1. Torvalds explained the change of the major number very simply: "We got a new major number solely because I get confused easily and am not good friends with big numbers."
He emphasized that the numbers in the names of the core have long been meaningless. For a very long time, releases have not been tied to either a set of functions or a division into "stable" and "unstable" branches. The new major number does not mean any breakthrough opportunities, nor the abandonment of old interfaces - it is just a marker of systematic progress, nothing more.
Torvalds recalled his established approach: each series of cores ends at version x.19, after which the next Y.0 is released - the full cycle takes about three and a half years. But then he thought about what would happen when the major number itself became "uncomfortably large." "I don't have a clear plan for the case when the major number itself will grow to large values," he admitted. - By that time, I think there will be someone more competent at the helm, who is not afraid of numbers above the second ten. So I won't worry about it."
And these are not just words: if the current pace continues, it will take at least 40 years until version 19.x. By that time, 56-year-old Torvalds, most likely, will have long gone on a well-deserved vacation - and will be tinkering with guitar pedals or anything else that he likes. Moreover, the Linux community is already quite seriously engaged in developing an official succession plan.
Having finished with the existential reasoning, Torvalds returned to business. He specifically mentioned that the first release of a new major version is traditionally alarming for some, based on experience with other projects. But in this case, there is no reason to worry: he described the merger window as "pretty smooth." "I define merge windows as those where I don't have to look for boot failures on any of my machines," he explained. - However, this time it's because I caught one glitch in advance, before I actually booted into it. But it's still technically considered "smooth" from my point of view."
He urged users to "drop everything, run to their computers and build and download a fresh kernel," because just because everything works for him doesn't mean that everyone else will. However, he immediately backed down: "Just kidding. A leisurely walk after you finish is fine too."
According to Torvalds himself, the composition of the changes in this release is quite typical: two thirds are drivers, the remaining third is the usual mix of architecture updates, file systems, tools and kernel code. Among the notable innovations is a patch that definitively fixes support for the Rust language. Testers will also discover code that speeds up cache cleanup, a mechanism for updating the kernel without interrupting system operation, as well as improvements for current AMD and Intel processors. In addition, performance improvements have been added for the RISC-V and LoongArch architectures. Well, where without the curiosities: the modem driver for ThinkPad laptops of the 90s era, when they were still IBM products, has been removed from the code base.
Linus Torvalds announced the release of the first Linux 7.0 kernel release candidate and at the same time speculated about his own professional future with characteristic self-irony.
"You all already know the ritual: two weeks have passed, the merge window is closed," he wrote in a post announcing Linux 7.0-rc1. Torvalds explained the change of the major number very simply: "We got a new major number solely because I get confused easily and am not good friends with big numbers."
He emphasized that the numbers in the names of the core have long been meaningless. For a very long time, releases have not been tied to either a set of functions or a division into "stable" and "unstable" branches. The new major number does not mean any breakthrough opportunities, nor the abandonment of old interfaces - it is just a marker of systematic progress, nothing more.
Torvalds recalled his established approach: each series of cores ends at version x.19, after which the next Y.0 is released - the full cycle takes about three and a half years. But then he thought about what would happen when the major number itself became "uncomfortably large." "I don't have a clear plan for the case when the major number itself will grow to large values," he admitted. - By that time, I think there will be someone more competent at the helm, who is not afraid of numbers above the second ten. So I won't worry about it."
And these are not just words: if the current pace continues, it will take at least 40 years until version 19.x. By that time, 56-year-old Torvalds, most likely, will have long gone on a well-deserved vacation - and will be tinkering with guitar pedals or anything else that he likes. Moreover, the Linux community is already quite seriously engaged in developing an official succession plan.
Having finished with the existential reasoning, Torvalds returned to business. He specifically mentioned that the first release of a new major version is traditionally alarming for some, based on experience with other projects. But in this case, there is no reason to worry: he described the merger window as "pretty smooth." "I define merge windows as those where I don't have to look for boot failures on any of my machines," he explained. - However, this time it's because I caught one glitch in advance, before I actually booted into it. But it's still technically considered "smooth" from my point of view."
He urged users to "drop everything, run to their computers and build and download a fresh kernel," because just because everything works for him doesn't mean that everyone else will. However, he immediately backed down: "Just kidding. A leisurely walk after you finish is fine too."
According to Torvalds himself, the composition of the changes in this release is quite typical: two thirds are drivers, the remaining third is the usual mix of architecture updates, file systems, tools and kernel code. Among the notable innovations is a patch that definitively fixes support for the Rust language. Testers will also discover code that speeds up cache cleanup, a mechanism for updating the kernel without interrupting system operation, as well as improvements for current AMD and Intel processors. In addition, performance improvements have been added for the RISC-V and LoongArch architectures. Well, where without the curiosities: the modem driver for ThinkPad laptops of the 90s era, when they were still IBM products, has been removed from the code base.
