Sheaves Ready To Play A Bigger Role In Linux 7.0

([Linux Kernel] 13 February 08:04 AM EST Linux 7.0 Slab Updates)

The slab memory allocator feature updates have been merged for the Linux 7.0 kernel. Most notable this cycle is expanded use of the recently-introduced Sheaves functionality.

Intel Nova Lake Sound Support In Linux 7.0

([Intel] 13 February 06:03 AM EST Intel Nova Lake Audio)

Merged for the Linux 6.19 kernel was initial Nova Lake S audio support. Now merged this week for the Linux 7.0 kernel is enabling sound support for additional Nova Lake platforms.

Libinput 1.31 Released With Configurable Timeouts, Fast 3-Finger Swipes

([Desktop] 13 February 05:45 AM EST libinput 1.31)

Red Hat's leading input expert Peter Hutterer announced the release overnight of libinput 1.31, the input handling library used by the Linux desktop on both X.Org and Wayland desktop sessions.

A Few More ASUS Motherboards Now Support Sensor Reporting With Linux 7.0

([Hardware] 13 February 05:36 AM EST HWMON)

All of the hardware monitoring "HWMON" subsystem updates have been merged for the ongoing Linux 7.0 merge window.

Haiku OS Lands Improved Touchpad Support, Still Working Toward Beta 6

([Operating Systems] 13 February 05:25 AM EST Haiku OS)

The Haiku open-source operating system project inspired by BeOS kicked off 2026 by making many improvements to its kernel, device drivers, and user-space software.

Linux 7.0 MM Changes Bring Some Very Nice Performance Optimizations

([Linux Kernel] 12 February 08:40 PM EST Linux 7.0 MM)

All of the memory management "MM" related patches have now been merged for the ongoing Linux 7.0 merge window.

XFS Introducing Autonomous Self-Healing Capabilities With Linux 7.0

([Linux Storage] 12 February 07:30 PM EST Autonomous Self-Healing)

The XFS file-system has some interesting new feature work and performance tuning with the Linux 7.0 kernel that will be used by the likes of Fedora 44 and Ubuntu 26.04 LTS this spring.

Intel Posts 2026 Update For Cache Aware Scheduling On Linux

([Intel] 12 February 04:18 PM EST Cache Aware Scheduling)

Not in time for the current Linux 7.0 cycle but posted for another round of review is Intel's latest work around Cache Aware Scheduling for enhancing the performance of modern CPUs with multiple cache domains. This is the first set of updates to Cache Aware Scheduling for the new year and succeed the v2 patches from early December. This work not only benefits modern Intel CPUs but our testing has shown can also provide some very nice gains too for AMD EPYC processors.

EXT4 In Linux 7.0 Improves Write Performance For Concurrent Direct I/O Writes

([Linux Storage] 12 February 03:54 PM EST Linux 7.0 EXT4)

Sent out and already merged today for the Linux 7.0 kernel are the EXT4 file-system updates.

AMD Video Decode Now Unified Between RadeonSI & RADV Vulkan Video

([Mesa] 12 February 01:20 PM EST AMD Unified Video Decode)

Merged today to Mesa 26.1-devel is unifying of the AMD video decode implementation between the RadeonSI Gallium3D and RADV Vulkan drivers.

SPARC & Alpha CPU Ports Still Seeing Activity In 2026 With Linux 7.0

([Hardware] 12 February 12:30 PM EST Linux 7.0)

In addition to all of the exciting Intel and AMD x86_64 enhancements that have been landing this week so far for the Linux 7.0 kernel, the aging SPARC, Alpha, and Motorola 680x0 "m68k" CPU ports have also seen some patches for this new kernel.

Arch Linux Running Well On LoongArch - Loongson 3B6000 Benchmarks

([Operating Systems] 12 February 11:05 AM EST 14 Comments)

Earlier this month I posted benchmarks of the Loongson 3B6000 for this 12-core / 24-thread LoongArch Chinese CPU with DDR4 ECC memory. Those initial benchmarks were done with Debian LoongArch64 while since then I've shifted over to using Arch Linux on LoongArch.

Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS Now Available With Linux 6.17 HWE Kernel

([Ubuntu] 12 February 10:45 AM EST Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS)

Canonical released Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS today as the newest point release to the Noble Numbat.

Linux 7.0 Networking: Prepping For WiFi 8 UHR While Dropping Last Parallel Port Ethernet Driver

([Linux Networking] 12 February 10:00 AM EST Linux 7.0 Networking)

The Linux 7.0 networking pull request showcases two extremes and the diversity and robustness of the open-source kernel ecosystem. Linux 7.0 is laying the groundwork for WiFi 8 Ultra-High Reliability (UHR) support while this kernel version is also bidding farewell to the last Ethernet driver for use over parallel printer ports.

Linux 7.0 Brings A Significant Improvement For Workqueue Rescuer

([Linux Kernel] 12 February 09:35 AM EST Workqueue)

The Linux kernel's workqueue for async task handling within a dedicated kernel thread is seeing some useful improvements with Linux 7.0.

Linux 7.0 Performance Events Prep For Intel Xeon Diamond Rapids

([Intel] 12 February 08:15 AM EST Linux 7.0 Perf Events)

The performance "perf" events changes for the Linux 7.0 kernel are continuing to prepare for next-generation Xeon Diamond Rapids processors as the successor to current Xeon 6 Granite Rapids.

Intel Is Making It Easier In Linux 7.0 To Monitor Energy Use For A Group Of Tasks

([Intel] 12 February 06:31 AM EST Resource Control)

Intel has upstreamed some Resource Control "resctrl" improvements to Linux 7.0 for enhanced telemetry monitoring. This is the good kind of telemetry with this new code being useful for being able to monitor how much energy or work is attributed to a group of tasks / process IDs on the system.