New NTFS Driver Sees A Number Of Fixes Ahead Of Linux 7.1-rc1

([Linux Storage] 25 April 07:26 AM EDT NTFS Improvements)

With the Linux 7.1-rc1 kernel release due out tomorrow to cap off the Linux 7.1 merge window, one of the most notable additions this cycle is the introduction of the new NTFS driver that aims to provide better performance and more modern features than the existing NTFS3 in-kernel driver that was originally contributed by Paragon Software.

Fedora 44 Releasing Next Week

([Fedora] 25 April 07:08 AM EDT Fedora 44 Next Week)

After being deemed not ready for debuting this week as an early release target, Fedora stakeholders have decided that Fedora 44 will be ready to officially debut next Tuesday.

LoongArch Improvements Land In Linux 7.1

([Hardware] 25 April 06:54 AM EDT LoongArch)

Merged for the nearly-over Linux 7.1 merge window are a number of enhancements to the LoongArch architecture support for that Chinese CPU architecture inspired by MIPS and RISC-V.

Godot 4.7 Reaches Beta With HDR Output, Ray-Tracing Improvements & Editor Enhancements

([Linux Gaming] 25 April 06:42 AM EDT Godot 4.7)

Godot 4.7 reached its beta milestone on Friday for this leading open-source, cross-platform game engine.

KDE Plasma 6.7 Enables Overlay Planes For Intel Graphics, More Performance/Efficiency

([KDE] 25 April 06:25 AM EDT Plasma 6.7)

KDE developers continued to land more feature changes for the upcoming Plasma 6.7 desktop release. It's a busy spring of fixes, optimizations, and shiny new features for Plasma 6.7.

Farewell ISDN, Ham Radio & Old Network Drivers: Linus Torvalds Merges 138k L.O.C. Removal

([Linux Networking] 24 April 02:49 PM EDT Linux 7.1 Drops Old Networking)

Linus Torvalds did it! He merged the pull request to rid the Linux kernel of the old Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) subsystem and various other old network drivers largely for PCMCIA era network adapters. This was the code suggested for removal given the recent influx of AI/LLM-generated bug reports against this dated code that likely has no active upstream users remaining.

GCC Establishes Working Group To Decide On AI/LLM Policy

([GNU] 24 April 01:17 PM EDT GCC + LLMs?)

The GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) now has a working group established by their steering committee to study the use of AI and large language models (LLMs) within the context of GCC compiler development.

Fwupd 2.1.2 Brings Support For Firmware Updates On More Hardware

([LVFS] 24 April 11:12 AM EDT Fwupd 2.1.2)

Fwupd 2.1.2 is out today as the latest update to this open-source firmware updating utility that allows for updating system firmware and device/peripheral firmware under Linux.

Linux 7.1 Is Performing Well Overall In Early Benchmarks

([Software] 24 April 10:43 AM EDT 7 Comments)

With the Linux 7.1 merge window winding down ahead of the planned Linux 7.1-rc1 release on Sunday, I have begun testing out the Linux 7.1 Git state on various systems in my lab. So far Linux 7.1 appears to be looking good in the performance department with seeing a number of performance improvements in different areas but also a few possible regressions.

Many Intel & AMD Laptop Improvements Merged For Linux 7.1

([Hardware] 24 April 10:00 AM EDT x86 Platform Drivers)

As usual in recent years, there were many x86 platform driver changes merged this cycle for benefiting modern AMD Ryzen and Intel Core (Ultra) laptops. A variety of new features and laptop hardware support additions were merged for Linux 7.1.

AMD SBI Driver Preps For EPYC Venice With Linux 7.1

([AMD] 24 April 09:43 AM EDT Linux 7.1 EPYC)

The Linux kernel continues getting ready for AMD's upcoming Zen 6 processors.

Linux 7.1 Removes Drivers For Long Obsolete Input Hardware: Bye Bus Mouse Support

([Hardware] 24 April 09:22 AM EDT Linux 7.1)

Beyond Linux looking to remove old drivers due to the surge of AI/LLM bug reports, the Linux 7.1 kernel is also removing some old hardware drivers simply on the basis of long obsolete hardware. The input subsystem saw several drivers removed this week for decades old hardware.

Arm C1-Ultra Scheduling Model Merged For LLVM/Clang 23

([Arm] 24 April 06:23 AM EDT C1-Ultra)

Merged recently to the latest LLVM/Clang compiler development tree is the Arm C1-Ultra scheduling model for helping with delivering optimal binaries for that flagship next-gen Arm mobile CPU.

Pull Request For Linux To Remove Old Network Drivers, ISDN Subsystem Due To AI/LLM Noise

([Linux Networking] 24 April 06:08 AM EDT Removal)

It was just days ago we reported on a proposal to drop old network drivers due to AI-driven bug reports becoming a burden on upstream kernel developers. Last night that culminated with an initial pull request to clear out some old, unused networking drivers plus also clearing out the entire ISDN subsystem and more.

HDMI FRL Support Achieved With Open-Source Nouveau For NVIDIA GPUs

([Nouveau] 23 April 08:16 PM EDT HDMI FRL On Nouveau)

While the AMDGPU open-source driver has struggled with HDMI 2.1 support due to the HDMI Forum blocking open-source implementations, HDMI Fixed Rate Link (FRL) as a feature of the HDMI 2.1 specification is enjoying success now with the open-source Nouveau graphics driver on Linux for NVIDIA GPUs.

Opera GX Browser Gets Flatpak'ed & Snap'ed On Linux

([Proprietary Software] 23 April 05:22 PM EDT Opera GX Browser)

Last month Opera released the Opera GX gaming-focused web browser for Linux. It rolled out in RPM and Debian package format support while now for those interested is also available via Flatpak and Snap sandboxed app formats.

Linux 7.1 Removes Some Obsolete PCMCIA Drivers That Likely Haven't Been Used In Years

([Linux Kernel] 23 April 04:18 PM EDT PCMCIA Host Controller Drivers)

In addition to some network drivers on the chopping block due to AI bug reports for obsolete hardware/drivers and Linux 7.1 dropping various drivers for Russia's Baikal CPUs, the Linux 7.1 kernel as of today also dropped some obsolete PCMCIA host controller drivers.