Linus Torvalds announced today the release and general availability of Linux 6.10 as the latest stable kernel branch that introduces several new features and improved hardware support.
Highlights of Linux kernel 6.10 include a new mseal() system call for memory sealing, Rust language support for the RISC-V architecture, Zstandard compression support for the EROFS file system, shadow stack support for the x32 subarchitecture, TPM bus encryption and integrity protection, and initial support for setting up PFCP (Packet Forwarding Control Protocol) filters.
Linux 6.10 also adds kfuncs support to the PowerPC BPF JIT compiler, ring_buffer memory mappings for mapping tracing ring buffers directly into user space, a new netlink-based protocol for controlling NFS servers in the kernel, Landlock support for applying policies to ioctl() calls, and integrity protection support for the FUSE file system.
Basic bpf_wq support has been introduced as well in Linux kernel 6.10 to give BPF programs the ability to use wait queues in the kernel, Rust abstractions have been added as well for time handling within the kernel, and the userfaultfd() write-protect feature is now supported for AArch64 (ARM64) systems.
Also new is the ntsync subsystem for providing Windows NT synchronization primitives for Linux/Wine gaming, as well as a BPF just-in-time compiler for 32-bit ARCv2 processors and a new high_priority option for the dm-crypt device-mapper for setting high-priority work queues during processing, which may lead to a performance boost on larger systems.
On top of that, Rust support has been updated to Rust 1.78.0, the ARM architecture received support for Clang CFI (Control-Flow Integrity) and LPAE privileged-access-never support, the OverlayFS file system gained the ability to create temporary files using the O_TMPFILE option, and there’s a new boot option called “init_mlocked_on_free” that will zero any pages locked into RAM when freed.
As expected, Linux kernel 6.10 improves hardware support by adding new drivers or updating existing ones. Notable highlights include support for the Radxa ROCK 3C development board, Intel Arrow Lake-H processors, Lenovo Thinkbook 13x Gen 4, Lenovo Thinkbook 16P Gen 5, and Lenovo Thinkbook 13X laptops, ASUS ROG 2024 laptops, and Machenike G5 Pro game controller.
Linux 6.10 should also provide some nice performance improvements on various platforms through faster AES-XTS on modern x86_64 CPUs, zoned write plugging for greatly improving the performance on zoned devices, greatly improved send zero-copy performance with io_uring, and improved write performance for the OCFS2 (Oracle Cluster File-System v2) file system.
Linux kernel 6.10 is available for download from Linus Torvalds’ git tree or the kernel.org website and it will be a short-lived branch supported for only a couple of months. It will be succeeded by Linux kernel 6.11, whose merge window has now been officially opened by Linus Torvalds. Linux kernel 6.11 is expected to be released in mid or late September 2024.
ColoCrossing excels in providing enterprise Colocation Services, Dedicated Servers, VPS, and a variety of Managed Solutions, operating from 8 data center locations nationwide. We cater to the diverse needs of businesses of any size, offering tailored solutions for your unique requirements. With our unwavering commitment to reliability, security, and performance, we ensure a seamless hosting experience.
For Inquiries or to receive a personalized quote, please reach out to us through our contact form here or email us at sales@colocrossing.com.
