Linux Kernel 7.2 Has Been Officially Released with Many New Features

Linux Kernel 7.2 has just been officially released with a slew of new features, reports the blog 9to5Linux.

Highlights of Linux 7.2 "include cache-aware load-balancing support, initial HDMI 2.1 FRL support to the AMDGPU driver, support for devres-based management of ACPI notify handlers, initial CRI platform support for the Intel Xe driver, and Rust support for the IBM System/390 (S/390) architecture." Linux kernel 7.2 also introduces a "Fair(er)" GPU scheduler, support for the 'zerocopy' library to Rust support to make zero-cost memory manipulation effortless, new hwcaps for the 2025 dpISA extensions on the AArch64 (ARM64) architecture, and enables large folios by default for the Btrfs file system.

It also brings Intel CPU model number support for Panther Lake R processor series, improvements to the kernel's swap subsystem, support for multi-size transparent huge pages (mTHPs) to the khugepaged kernel thread, and support for compressed files to the SMB filesystem.

On top of that, Linux 7.2 improves the new NTFS filesystem introduced in Linux kernel 7.1, adds devicetree updates for 64-bit NXP/Freescale and Qualcomm platforms, introduces MPTCP signaling support for IPv6 addresses, adds GRO/GSO support for PPPoE, and brings more SMP load-balancing updates... [T]he TCP authentication option has been implemented, and there are also some Thunderbolt networking improvements.

Also worth mentioning is that the KVM subsystem has received support for AMD's "guest-mode execution trap" and Intel's "mode-based execution control" (MBEC) features, the NFS file system's default block size was bumped to 4MB on systems with at least 16GB RAM, and support for the Intel Trusted Domain Extensions (TDX) feature has been added.
Thanks to Slashdot reader prisoninmate for bring the news.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

So recompile it with all the stuff you don't like turned off. Easy peasy.

Re:

[UnknowingFool]

Sometimes it can be just a matter of picking the right distro. One of my computers has a 14 year old processor. It is fine with Linux Mint XFCE. The GPU is more sluggish with Cinnamon. The main reason it is slow is generally hardware limits like the old CPU does not have an AVI hardware decoder for YouTube so it is software decoded.

Re:Even more bloat.

[thegarbz]

Linus has truly lost the plot. He keeps shoveling more CPU cycle draining tasks into the kernel with no regard to efficiency and leanness. It's time to fork this and turn Linux back into a streamlined OS.

a) The presence of code does not mean it uses any CPU cycles.
b) Kernel support for something does not mean it's compiled in or that it has made a kernel any less "lean".
c) Linux kernel performance is basically at the top of every metric except for specific networking cases where it's beaten by BSD.
d) Linux was never a microkernel. It's been "bloated" supporting virtually anything and everything from initial release.
e) Getting paid by Microsoft to post stupid shit on the internet isn't worth the mental health impact of having everyone call you a moron every day, it's really time for you to find a more honorable profession, like trafficking drugs or sex work.

Re:

[drinkypoo]

Linus has truly lost the plot. He keeps shoveling more CPU cycle draining tasks into the kernel

If you'd actually been using Linux long enough to have an opinion on this you'd know a lot more runs in userspace than it used to.

Re:

[sad_]

all benchmarks prove the opposite, the kernel keeps getting more capable and faster. it has become bigger for sure, but don't make the mistake of thinking that means it is slower or worse then the cute little kernel we had 20 years ago.

That paradox that is transparency.

[twinirondrives]

Applications have finally reached the point of demanding transparency from the destribution in the way of speaking to any app anywhere (example see AI) The distribution in turn requires a lot of services running that any given user does not need or use. So by that logic your computer became a piece of crap over night because an application platform deemed it so.

Re:

[Zero__Kelvin]

I'm not sure you know what a user is or what it is that a user uses.

"So by that logic your computer became a piece of crap over night because an application platform deemed it so."

What logic? I can't find any of it in your comment.

Re:

[twinirondrives]

I'm not sure you know what a user is or what it is that a user uses.

That is a very general and broad accusation to make while not bothering to support your statement. So ill make one of my own accusing you of dismissing a point without giving a reason just to make yourself sound smart.

Re:

[twinirondrives]

"So by that logic your computer became a piece of crap over night because an application platform deemed it so."

"What logic?I can't find any of it in your comment.

That reference was for people who may get it. If you didn't understand it then you can assume it was not for you. No need to explain further I think.

Re:

[Zero__Kelvin]

Users decide what applications they install and use, or they get a system administrator to do so. Since you said "your computer" it is fair to say that "you" are both the user and administrator. You can't explain it further because you don't even understand what you are saying. If you are running an OS that forces you to use AI then you are using the wrong OS. Furthermore, you aren't force to set up your applications to use AI running locally on your computer. Finally, you can enable and disable service