Linux 6.0 Arrives With Performance Improvements and More Rust Coming (zdnet.com) 24
Linux creator Linus Torvalds has announced the first release candidate for the Linux kernel version 6.0, but he says the major number change doesn't signify anything especially different about this release. ZDNet: While there is nothing fundamentally different about this release compared with 5.19, Torvalds noted that there were over 13,500 non-merge commits and over 800 merged commits, meaning "6.0 looks to be another fairly sizable release." According to Torvalds, most of the updates are improvements to the GPU, networking and sound. Torvalds stuck to his word after releasing Linux kernel 5.19 last month, when he flagged he would likely call the next release 6.0 because he's "starting to worry about getting confused by big numbers again."
On Sunday's release of Linux 6.0 release candidate version 1 (rc-1), he explained his reasoning behind choosing a new major version number and its purpose for developers. Again, it's about avoiding confusion rather than signaling that the release has major new features. His threshold for changing the lead version number was .20 because it is difficult to remember incremental version numbers beyond that. "Despite the major number change, there's nothing fundamentally different about this release - I've long eschewed the notion that major numbers are meaningful, and the only reason for a 'hierarchical; numbering system is to make the numbers easier to remember and distinguish," said Torvalds. Torvalds lamented some Rust-enabling code didn't make it into the release. The Register adds: "I actually was hoping that we'd get some of the first rust infrastructure, and the multi-gen LRU VM, but neither of them happened this time around," he mused, before observing "There's always more releases. This is one of those releases where you should not look at the diffstat too closely, because more than half of it is yet another AMD GPU register dump," he added, noting that Intel's Gaudi2 Ai processors are also likely to produce plenty of similar kernel additions. "The CPU people also show up in the JSON files that describe the perf events, but they look absolutely tiny compared to the 'asic_reg' auto-generated GPU and AI hardware definitions," he added.
On Sunday's release of Linux 6.0 release candidate version 1 (rc-1), he explained his reasoning behind choosing a new major version number and its purpose for developers. Again, it's about avoiding confusion rather than signaling that the release has major new features. His threshold for changing the lead version number was .20 because it is difficult to remember incremental version numbers beyond that. "Despite the major number change, there's nothing fundamentally different about this release - I've long eschewed the notion that major numbers are meaningful, and the only reason for a 'hierarchical; numbering system is to make the numbers easier to remember and distinguish," said Torvalds. Torvalds lamented some Rust-enabling code didn't make it into the release. The Register adds: "I actually was hoping that we'd get some of the first rust infrastructure, and the multi-gen LRU VM, but neither of them happened this time around," he mused, before observing "There's always more releases. This is one of those releases where you should not look at the diffstat too closely, because more than half of it is yet another AMD GPU register dump," he added, noting that Intel's Gaudi2 Ai processors are also likely to produce plenty of similar kernel additions. "The CPU people also show up in the JSON files that describe the perf events, but they look absolutely tiny compared to the 'asic_reg' auto-generated GPU and AI hardware definitions," he added.
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I mostly took it as tongue in cheek, but well...
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Then, Rust made a breakthrough in adoption, but within a particular community.
Rust would need still to replace C++ in a myriad of other communities and niches that are far beyond of one could imagine to be happening anytime soon. And that's just C++, I'm not counting C.
But, yes, if you want your language to have a huge adoption and widespread in devices and computers, the Linux kernel is the place to go.
Slashdot Slashdotted itself. (Score:3)
Linux Kernel announcement = site dropped.
It's Slashception. The even less sensical nerdy version of Inception.
I'll see myself out.
More rust? (Score:4, Funny)
Why would I want more rust? If there's that much rust, shouldn't they switch to something else such as stainless steel or aluminum?
*whisper* *whisper* *whisper*
Never mind [youtube.com].
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Besides, it must be hell on multitasking, since Rust never sleeps.
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I've been using Unix and Linux for 27 years. If anything I'm the one with a bit of rust.
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Not sure why you got downvoted. Consider a fellow dunce I guess. I'd also like to know. Curiosity, and all that.
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Linus has been known to solicit opinions on the version number under some circumstances. When live kernel upgrades were introduced, he asked the community whether it warranted a major version increase or not; the yes vote won, and version 4 (I think; someone correct me if I'm wrong) was born rather than a minor increase of the current version.
Mostly, though, the version is just a meaningless number to indicate that a kernel has been released. Linus ultimately decides when to do so.
Meaningless version numbers means move to dates (Score:2, Troll)
When The Creator Himself states more than a half-dozen times that the Linux kernel's major version number is meaningless, it's far beyond time the kernel should have moved to date-based version numbers.
Otherwise the Linux kernel's version number construct doesn't make any sense.
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Let's play the Microsoft game and call it Linux 12, or 720. Bigger numbers mean better product!
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That's called marketing. Windows actual version numbers are also date-based. Posted from my work laptop running Windows 10 21H2.
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Using 'X' is the supreme scheme.
LinuxX
LinuX/2++
LinuSIX
LinuXtremePointOH
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Let's play the Microsoft game even more. After Linux 12 will come Linux 720. And then the next one will be Linux One.
Re:Meaningless version numbers means move to dates (Score:4, Interesting)
Date-based versioning would confuse things in this case. While it's fine for something where patch levels are indicated by the date and the major installed base upgrades within reasonable timeframes (e.g, password managers where you probably want the latest; BitWarden does this now), it's not necessary for the Linux kernel, where actively supported versions go back some time (and where some vendors support versions officially unsupported by the Linux foundation). Imagine someone seeing that they use version 2017.11 (matching version 4.14), they might get very concerned about whether they were years out of support instead of running a supported LTS version. While there are other factors to weigh in determining if your system is supported and patched to current levels, the dates could add unnecessary confusion and a push to upgrade to a much newer version where no such upgrade is needed.
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+1 Insightful
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I'm aware of the problem of legacy-still-supported old kernels that RHEL and others rely upon wouldn't work with just dates, but I think marking them with an addendum with an LTS tag would definitively solve that particular problem.
What happens when Linux reaches major version 20 (Score:3)
Do we switch to a new naming convention for major releases? At the current rate of new releases we'll hit 20 in another 8 years or so
OMG! Linux Must be Broken! (Score:2)
Rust is starting to set into the kernel code!
sarcasm is optional