New and exciting features coming to the Linux 5.14 kernel

2 years ago 339

Find retired what's coming to (and what's leaving) the Linux 5.14 kernel and what Linus Torvalds said astir the release.

On the heels of the 5.13 kernel debut, Linus Torvalds (the creator of Linux) announced the archetypal merchandise campaigner for the Linux 5.14 kernel. According to Torvalds, this kernel volition beryllium a reasonably modular merchandise (especially compared to the 5.13 kernel). In fact, Linus said of this release, "On the whole, I don't deliberation determination are immoderate immense surprises successful here, and size-wise this seems to beryllium a beauteous regular merchandise too." Torvalds added, "Let's anticipation that that translates to a bully and calm merchandise cycle, but you ne'er know."

SEE: 5 Linux server distributions you should beryllium using (TechRepublic Premium)

That the 5.14 kernel is simply a less-than-exciting merchandise is mostly due to the fact that it follows 1 of the biggest kernel releases successful caller past (especially with the 5.13 kernel adding enactment for Apple M1 Arm-based CPUs).

That doesn't, however, mean the 5.14 kernel isn't without its ain breathtaking features. Let's instrumentality a look astatine what's perchance coming to the adjacent Linux kernel.

B'bye bequest IDE enactment

In an effort to proceed the kernel codification cleanup, Torvalds has indicated that bequest IDE instrumentality enactment volition beryllium removed. To that, Torvalds said, "Of course, the information that we removed each that bequest IDE codification doesn't mean that we had a simplification successful lines over-all: a fewer tens of thousands of lines of bequest codification is obscurity adjacent capable to equilibrium retired the accustomed kernel growth. But it's inactive a bully happening to spot the cleanup."

SEE: Rust: What developers request to cognize astir this programming connection (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

Tends of thousands of lines of bequest IDE codification person been removed, which is nary tiny feat. But fixed however the kernel continues to turn with each release, that's a specified pittance successful narration to what's added.

New features added to Linux 5.14 kernel

Outside of removing bequest code, immoderate of the caller diagnostic highlights that mightiness marque it to the last merchandise include:

Support for the Raspberry Pi 400.
Dell Hardware Privacy Support (for hardware buttons that tin disable mics and cameras)
The Think-LMI driver, which makes it imaginable to configure ThinkPad BIOS settings from wrong Linux.
New AMD enactment for Yello Carp GPU, Beige Goby GPU, AMDGPU HMM SVM, Smart Shift for laptops, and Sensor Fusion Hub enactment for caller Ryzen Laptops.
Support for Intel Alder Lake P graphics.
Qualcomm Adreno 660 GPU support.
ACPI Platform Runtime Mechanism (allows moving immoderate strategy absorption interrupt handlers retired of the strategy absorption mode and into OS/VMM execution context).
Core-scheduling interface to assistance mitigate user-space to user-space and user-to-kernel attacks.
Flash-Friendly File System read-only mode.
Faster XMM hypercalls for Hyper-V guests.
Transparent Hugepages for RISC-V.
Intel P-State for hybrid processors for Alder Lake.
memfd_secret is simply a strategy telephone that provides the quality to make representation areas that are disposable lone successful the discourse of the owning process (and are not mapped by different processes oregon adjacent the kernel leafage tables).

Improvements added

Although determination mightiness not beryllium a monolithic database of caller features, determination are immoderate important improvements connected the skyline for the 5.14 kernel. Here's the shortlist:

Profile Guided Optimizations for utilizing the Clang compiler.
Improved AMDGPU GPU hot-plug handling.
Itel DRM operator improvements for TTM connected section instrumentality representation management.
Improvements for XFS file-system scalability.
Improvements to Habana Labs AI driver.
Improved enactment for MicroTik 10G/25G web interface cards.
Reduction successful latency for USB audio devices.
Massive show optimization to DeviceMapper code.
Added privateness via EXT4 diary checkpoints from the userspace.

And that's what you person to look guardant to successful the Linux 5.14. kernel, which should beryllium disposable (as stable) sometime successful precocious August oregon aboriginal September. However, don't expect your Linux organisation of prime to prime up that kernel that soon. For example, Ubuntu volition vessel with the 5.13 kennel successful October (with the merchandise of 21.10). So, you'll person to either instal the kernel manually (which I don't urge for accumulation systems—unless there's a bully crushed for it), oregon hold until it's added to your favourite distribution's repositories.