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Earlier than Linus Torvalds introduced the discharge of the Linux 6.6 kernel, he mentioned there’d additionally been a musical documentary made about it — which was truly Iron Maiden’s music video for ‘The Quantity Of The Beast’. Whereas there are people who find themselves each heavy steel and open-source followers, notably Jono Bacon, I did not know Torvalds was a part of the group, too.
Be that as it could, Torvalds mentioned: “I’ve completely no excuses to delay the v6.6 launch anymore, so right here it’s.” And what we discover on this launch, apart from the standard array of fixes and drivers, is a potpourri of latest options.
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The one characteristic that caught my eye was the KSMBD In-Kernel SMB3 Server. KSMBD, which was designed by Samsung, is a brand new kernel module that implements the server aspect of the SMB3 file-sharing protocol into Linux’s coronary heart. This module has been within the works for years — and it wanted that point. The primary variations of KSMBD have been noteworthy for having greater than their fair proportion of safety issues. Fortunately, these issues have now been fastened.
The introduction of KSMBD does pose a query: “Why put an SMB server within the kernel once we’ve had Samba for many years?” There are two solutions to this query. The primary reply is KSMBD has a really small assault floor — and since file switch protocols are sometimes attacked, that is necessary. The second reply is KSMBD ought to carry out sooner because of streamlined information switch and file-sharing operations, and assist for Distant Direct Reminiscence Entry (RDMA).
Many individuals are additionally excited by the arrival of the Earliest Eligible Digital Deadline First (EEVDF) Scheduler. The EEVDF scheduler replaces the Utterly Honest Scheduler (CFS), which has been round since 2007. These schedulers handle the allocation of CPU time between Linux processes, so no single course of pigs out on processor time.
CFS has completed a ok job. However through the years, it is turn out to be clear that, whereas some processes might not want a whole lot of CPU time, once they do want it, they want it proper now. On the similar time, different processes would possibly want extra CPU time, however can wait their flip. EEVDF addresses these latency points extra effectively than CFS.
Below the hood, as its creator, Peter Zijlstra, wrote, EEVDF “utterly reworks the bottom scheduler, placement, preemption, selecting — every little thing.” For customers, the inclusion of EEVDF ought to enhance efficiency throughout the board. In truth, customers already report the distinction between CFS and EEVDF is like night time and day.
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Linux 6.6 additionally boasts assist for Intel’s Shadow Stack, which is a brand new laptop processor characteristic that is designed to thwart return-oriented programming assaults, similar to stack buffer overflow. The characteristic does this by organising a secondary reminiscence stack, which functions cannot instantly modify. So, when your software executes a CALL instruction, the processor pushes the return tackle to each the traditional stack and the shadow stack. Then, upon the operate return, the processor compares the 2 copies. If the 2 copies differ, the processor raises a control-protection fault error message. Whereas Intel will get the credit score for arising with the code, this safety mechanism works with each newer AMD and Intel chips.
Whereas we’re speaking about AMD, the kernel now helps AMD’s Dynamic Enhance Management. Avid gamers with AMD Ryzen CPUs ought to have higher frames-per-second recreation efficiency on just about any video-intense recreation.
Trying forward, builders are laying the groundwork for upcoming {hardware}, together with new CPUs and GPUs from Intel and AMD. This effort consists of assist for Intel’s Lunar Lake and Arrow Lake processors, and AMD’s EPYC and Ryzen CPUs.
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Avid gamers can even be completely happy to see that Linux 6.6 now helps rumble for the Google Stadia controller, battery reporting for the Nvidia Protect controller, and assist for gadgets just like the SteelSeries Arctis 1 Xbox headset.
One minor change is that the necessary Linux safety module, NSA SELinux, is shedding NSA from its title. This system stays the identical, however the nod to historical past — in that that SELinux was initially created by the US’s Nationwide Safety Company (NSA) — has been eliminated.
Will probably be some time earlier than the Linux 6.6 kernel is built-in into most distributions’ steady software program repositories. For customers desperate to get their palms on the brand new kernel, take a look at Arch Linux, openSUSE Tumbleweed, and Gentoo Linux.
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These distros provide the best approach to play with the newest Linux kernel variations. If you happen to’re snug compiling and organising your personal Linux straight from the supply code, Linux 6.6 is obtainable for obtain instantly from Linus Torvalds’ Git tree or the kernel.org web site.