Linux 6.5 is a smooth-sailing upgrade for the open-source kernel

[Alfonso Maruccia]

Why it matters: Linux is the open-source kernel you can literally find everywhere these days, the heart of both popular consumer operating systems and the most complex hyperscale or cloud setups. Every new change to Linux can be a "scary" thing to manage, but the latest release should be a drama-free affair for most users.

Linus Torvalds announced on Sunday that the work on Linux 6.5 is now complete. The outspoken Finnish software engineer who brought the Free Open Source kernel to the world said that he did not find any valid excuse to delay the new release, which has been going smoothly because programmers were likely on their summer vacations.

Linux 6.5 arrives after seven weeks of testing on seven release candidate (RC) builds, bringing a short yet significant changelog with bugfixes and improved hardware support. The new kernel is better at managing the latest CPU architectures from Intel, with an improved load balancing on processors equipped with both performance and efficiency (low-energy) computing cores.

The latest Linux release also improves core management, performance balancing and power consumption on AMD "Zen" CPUs. Boot times on multi-socket servers with two or more CPUs working in parallel should be improved as well. Linux 6.5 brings support for the ACPI power management standard on the RISC-V architecture.

Speaking of RISC-V, the FOSS kernel has improved support for Alibaba's Xuantie 910 chip. The Chinese giant wants to adopt its homegrown custom CPU to run and manage AI-based workloads, 5G devices and edge servers, where proper Linux support is an essential requirement. Linux 6.5 also introduces support for MIDI 2.0 in the Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (ALSA) for sound device management, an initial implementation of USB 4.2, Wi-Fi 7, and more.

The list of hardware devices officially (and properly) supported by the Linux kernel now includes Lenovo Yoga Book yb1-x90f/l, Nextbook Ares 8A tablets, Dell Studio 1569, Lenovo ThinkPad X131e (3371 AMD version), and Apple iMac11,3 laptops. And there's room for temperature and humidity sensors (AHT20) as well.

Now that Linux 6.5 is done and companies can start compiling the kernel for their distros, Torvalds isn't wasting any time by announcing that a new "merge window" for the new version (6.6) is already open. He already has around 20 new patches pending and "ready to go," but he is also asking kernel developers to give the latest official release one last round of testing before diving into the next "merge frenzy" with new features and bugfixes.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/99933-linux-65-smoothly-sailing-upgrade-open-source-kernel.html

 

[Bruno M. Villar]

This kernel is plagued with dozens of harmful CVE's. Windows 11 haves less CVE's than linux at the moment. The last windows 11 version, crushes any kind of distro you could mention in terms of compatibility, performance and endurance. Linux is a far dream that went wrong.

 

[Axle Grease]

This kernel is plagued with dozens of harmful CVE's. Windows 11 haves less CVE's than linux at the moment. The last windows 11 version, crushes any kind of distro you could mention in terms of compatibility, performance and endurance. Linux is a far dream that went wrong.

Really? The next kernel is at RC5 at the moment, so it should almost be ready. Can you provide a link to a list of these dozens of harmful CVEs?

 

[Mr Majestyk]

There's not a kernel of truth in the Villar's claims.

 

[Bruno M. Villar]

Really? The next kernel is at RC5 at the moment, so it should almost be ready. Can you provide a link to a list of these dozens of harmful CVEs?

If you are visiting a tech-based forum, you know where to find it. Check for yourself.

 

[Bruno M. Villar]

There's not a kernel of truth in the Villar's claims.

Check the sources bro, do the math...Linux is as vulnerable as windows is

 

[Feng Lengshun]

This kernel is plagued with dozens of harmful CVE's. Windows 11 haves less CVE's than linux at the moment. The last windows 11 version, crushes any kind of distro you could mention in terms of compatibility, performance and endurance. Linux is a far dream that went wrong.

You... do realize that the majority of Linux system is used for servers and small form-factor devices (which I would include Android phones in), right? I'm honestly not sure why you decide to bring up Windows 11 here. The only time I've seen Windows Server is used is when the IT doesn't want to learn Linux, and Windows Phones failed very badly, last I checked.

And which CVEs are we talking about? First of all, the Linux OS stack is open-source, so naturally more issues are found AND fixed. We don't know how much issues Windows really have, because people just have to poke blindly and maybe they'll find, maybe they'll report it, and maybe it gets listed as vulnerabilities. Then there's also how Linux is just the kernel, and it really depends on what you use and what kind of environment you're in. Tails and Qubes, for example, mitigates a lot of issues in a way that Windows cannot do. Even mainstream Ubuntu and Fedora is a lot better than Windows as they embrace containerized & sandboxed solutions like Snaps and Flatpak -- something that works so well that Windows is still experimenting ways to replicate it as "CorePC" or whatever they'll end up calling it. This doesn't even get into immutable/image-based/read-only root systems and AppArmor/SELinux which reduces threat factors even more.

Are there issues in the Linux OS stacks? Absolutely. But it is getting worked on in a very open way, every day, and there are many integrated tools that allow users to better mitigate threat factors based on their own security model, convenience tolerance, and usecase, which is not only better than Windows but outright being replicated on Windows. A lot of things that Windows have are things that Linux have had for ages- even their motto was stolen from KDE!