Linus Torvalds labels Super Bowl 'violent version of egg-and-spoon race'

Linux quarterback wants you to test hopefully final rc of kernel 5.11 instead of 'standing around, waiting for the next commercial to come on'

Linus Torvalds has strongly suggested that next week will see the release of a new version of the Linux kernel, assuming nothing odd happens and testers don't watch too much footy on the telly.

“This is hopefully the last rc for this release, unless some surprise comes along and makes a travesty of our carefully laid plans,” he wrote in his Sunday afternoon state of the kernel post in which he announced rc 7 of version 5.11.

“Nothing hugely scary stands out,” he added, with selftests and documentation representing about a quarter of recent additions.

“Go forth and test,” he wrote. “Unless you're glued to the TV, of course.”

That’s a reference to the opening of his post, which notes that he published it on the same day as Super Bowl LV, the championship game of the United States’ National Football League.

It's kind of a more violent and hands-on team-oriented version of the traditional egg-and-spoon race

Torvalds appears bemused by the game, writing: “Everybody is getting ready to watch the yearly top TV commercials, occasionally interrupted by some odd handegg carrying competition that I still haven't figured out the rules for after twenty-odd years here.”

“It's kind of a more violent and hands-on team-oriented version of the traditional egg-and-spoon race, and involves a lot of standing around, apparently waiting for the next commercial to come on.”

He added: “Outside the US, everybody scratches their heads about the whole thing, and hopefully life goes on with the weekly celebration involving compiling and testing new kernels instead.” ®