Linus Torvalds releases probably unnecessary release candidate eight for Linux 6.2

Emperor Penguin promised a relaxed seasonal development cycle and has delivered

Work on version 6.2 of the Linux kernel will stretch into an eighth release candidate, despite emperor penguin Linus Torvalds now saying it isn't really necessary.

In late January, Torvalds rated release candidate five as "fairly sizable" due to "pent up testing and fixes from people being off."

He therefore flagged his intention to extend this kernel development cycle beyond his preferred seven release candidates.

Release candidate six then landed in what Torvalds described as "suspiciously small" stature, followed by release candidate seven that he labelled "fairly small and controlled, to the point where normally I'd just say that this is the last rc.

“But since I've stated multiple times that I'll do an rc8 due to the holiday start of the release, that's what I'll do."

And indeed he did. On February 12 he announced rc8 and declared: "the only real reason for an rc8 is – as now mentioned several times – just to make up for some time during the holiday season. Not that we seem to really have needed it, but there was also no real reason to deviate from the plan."

Torvalds expects "a few late regression fixes" that will come in handy, but doesn't feel the slightly longer-than-usual development process will prove harmful.

All of which means penguinistas need to wait until next week for additions such as improved performance on many-core IBM POWER servers, persistent memory support for RISC-V, and more enabling code for Intel's "On Demand" software-defined silicon plan.

More support for Compute Express Link (CXL) is notable, as the shared memory standard offers the chance for big changes to datacenter and application architectures.

Most Linux kernel releases include an oddity or two, and this time around support for Sony DualShock 4 controllers – a PlayStation accessory – might own that title. Or perhaps the addition of "human detection" code for Chromebooks is more to your taste – Google uses this feature to sense when someone is sat down in front of the lightweight laptops its ChromeOS powers, to manage battery use and do things like proactively change screen brightness. ®