2023-08-28 18:34:56
Linus Torvalds released the stable version of the Linux kernel 6.5 on Sunday. This update introduces new features, new and updated drivers for better hardware support, and other changes. Among other new features, Linux 6.5 introduces MIDI 2.0 support in ALSA, ACPI support for the RISC-V architecture, and Landlock support for UML (User-Mode Linux). Linux kernel 5.6 also adds better support for AMD “Zen” systems, as well as userspace support for “memcpy/memset” instructions from the ARMv8.8 architecture.
Linus Torvalds decided it was time to give the world a new version of the Linux kernel, announcing its delivery in a brief post on Sunday followingnoon. He admitted that he was a little worried regarding this version. Nothing particularly weird or scary happened in the last week, so there’s no excuse for delaying the 6.5 release. I still have this nagging feeling that a lot of people are on vacation and things have been quiet partly because of that. But this version went off without a hitch, so it’s probably just me being paranoid,” he wrote in a post on Sunday.
Indeed, Torvalds has been concerned regarding the impact of the northern summer on this release ever since the first release candidate (RC1) was presented in the second week of July. Whatever the reason this release appeared on schedule, without any noticeable disruption, it produced a kernel release unlikely to be considered particularly important. Perhaps the most notable inclusion is the default enabling of the P-state on some AMD processors, which means the kernel can manage cores more efficiently to balance performance and power consumption.
Linux kernel 6.5 also added tools to run processors in parallel, which improves boot time on multisocket servers. This improvement is important for hyperscalers. Speaking of hyperscalers, Chinese tech firm Alibaba will be pleased that the kernel has improved support for its in-house T-Head Xuantie 910 TH1520 64-bit RISC-V processor. T-Head, Alibaba’s chip design company, suggests the Xuantie 910 will find its way into servers running AI workloads, 5G gear and edge servers.
Also in version 6.5, USB 4.2 makes its first appearance, although support is not yet complete. Wi-Fi 7 has received more attention from the kernel. Performance of the Btrfs file system has been improved in this release, which also introduces SGX/HPE Ultraviolet support for Sub-NUMA (SNC) clustering. In addition, Linux 6.5 introduces hardware support for Lenovo Yoga Book yb1-x90f/l and Nextbook Ares 8A tablets, Dell Studio 1569 (ACPI backlight issues), Lenovo ThinkPad X131e (AMD build 3371), and iMac computers11,3 from Apple.
Of course, many new and updated drivers are also available in this Linux kernel release for various devices to provide users with first-class hardware support. Among these are drivers for the AHT20 temperature and humidity sensor, HP WMI sensors and the ROG Crosshair X670E Hero motherboard. Gamers will be happy to hear there’s a tactile improvement here. Those who use an ASUS ROG Ally will be pleased to hear that the sound issues are fixed in version 6.5. Below are other notable features of the Linux 6.5 kernel:
AMD FreeSync now enabled by default; memory support not supported; formative MIDI 2.0 support; Rust support updated to Rust 1.68.2; RISC-V now supports ACPI and Vector extension Support for NVIDIA SHIELD devices Further enablement of Wi-Fi 7.
The Linux 6.5 kernel can be downloaded now from Linus Torvalds’ Git tree or other specialist sources. However, this is the source code, which must be compiled manually. If that’s not your cup of tea, you’ll have to wait for Linux 6.5 to arrive in your GNU/Linux distribution’s stable software repositories to update it. The next kernel version, Linux 6.6, may see the appearance of the “bcachefs” filesystem. This system didn’t make it into 6.5, but Torvalds reviewed it when developing 6.5 and said he was more comfortable with the idea of it appearing in a future release.
Linux 6.5 is the third consecutive release to arrive on schedule following seven candidate releases. Linux 6.1 needed an eighth release candidate, but Torvalds had anticipated that if there was a slowdown in work over the Christmas/New Year 2022-23 period.
Source : Linus Torvalds
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