AI Reviews Bring 'New Normal' to Linux Release Candidates: Lots of Bug Fixes (phoronix.com)
- Reference: 0184914714
- News link: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/26/08/10/0014253/ai-reviews-bring-new-normal-to-linux-release-candidates-lots-of-bug-fixes
- Source link: https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-7.2-rc7-Released
But there's something interesting about Linux 7.2-rc7, [1]writes Phoronix . "By the time the Linux kernel typically hits a -rc7 release things have usually settled quite well. But in today's world of AI/LLM coding/review agents, the kernel activity continues at an all-time high."
> Tons of bug fixes continued to trickle in across the kernel spectrum for all sorts of issues. The HWMON hardware monitoring subsystem saw several [2]critical and high severity bug fixes , on the memory management side was a [3]nasty race condition leading to a use-after-free in the kernel for the past eight years, [4]Btrfs restored its fixup worker infrastructure to deal with silent data loss, lots of AI patches [5]in the networking realm , and the kernel was [6]patched for the Safe RET Interrupt Vulnerability .
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> Linus Torvalds wrote in the [7]7.2-rc7 announcement :
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> "Another week, another -rc.
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> I can't say that I'm exactly thrilled about the size of this all, but it is what it is: the new normal with a lot of fixes, many of them due to review by various AI tools.
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> And nothing looks particularly scary per se — it's just that there's a lot here. Most of it is fairly small, although we have a couple of larger diffs: s390/zcrypt fixes stand out in the diffstat, and so does btrfs bringing back the fixup worker infrastructure. And some netfilter ipset fixes.
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> But aside from a few places like that, most of this is just lots of tiny fixes. It's pretty much spread all over — drivers (gpu, sound, networking, you name it), filesystems, core networking, arch code...
[1] https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-7.2-rc7-Released
[2] https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-7.2-rc7-HWMON
[3] https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-7.2-rc7-UAF-PTDUMP
[4] https://www.phoronix.com/news/Btrfs-Restores-Fixup-Worker
[5] https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-Net-Bombarded-AI-Patches
[6] https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-Safe-RET-Interrupt-Vuln
[7] https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/CAHk-=wiDq_aaSkBgTN=SGpa5bfTsRGvwhg8sJcFyWgPFf4x0HA@mail.gmail.com/T/#u
Need new AI editors (Score:2)
> Linux Torvalds expects Linux 7.2 should be released next weekend
So when will AI take over the world? One of the most recognizable names in tech history, still active. Does anyone who posted or at Slashdot review? Of course not. Could AI fix this problem? Probably so.
RC7 left me without a functional screen (Score:2)
I mistakenly applied it to my win7 era Manjaro box and was left with an unresponsive black screen, I can login to a terminal CTL-ALT-F2, etc but I don't know how to fix it. I guess I shouldn't put it into my new box and let it try to adjust to it before I put it back in the old box and let it go back to its old configuration, I probably corrupted the install. I can't imaging what possessed me to try the release candidate when the 6 level linux was a safe option and the stable 7 level was also available.
I t
Re: (Score:2)
I, too, often say to myself "bit rusty on the old command line, maybe I should hand roll an unreleased kernel".
Re: (Score:2)
Lol no, I just ticked the wrong box in the package manager when given the option. I din't hand roll nottin.
now, if I was more familiar with pacman (is it?) I could probably roll it back but maybe first I shou;d turn off the quick boot in the bios so I can select a different line in grub or turn off auto login. or something. I'm not sure how worthwhile it is to salvage an old box when age is diminishing my brain power. I can just slap the drive back into the new box and take advantage of the extra terabyte.
Progressive, conscientious people like this (Score:2)
Are why under the new artificial intelligence regime, we *can* have nice things.
I'm going to go out on a limb here (Score:2)
And say that if you've had a bug in your code for 8 years and the code is actually in production and being used then the bug wasn't all that important.
AI seems to be finding a lot of bugs that people just weren't bothering to find because why would you? I have certainly come across bugs in my own code that don't really hurt anything or that require such very specific and uncommon circumstances that I'm hardly surprised I didn't fix them sooner. Yeah a machine can and we'll find them but so what?
If i
Re: (Score:2)
They are new bugs in new AI generated code.
Re: I'm going to go out on a limb here (Score:1)
Why do you speak when you have no idea what you are talking about. Again, at least RTFSummary.
Re: I'm going to go out on a limb here (Score:2)
The fact that you think that people "aren't bothering" to find bugs because "why would you?" says everything anyone with a clue needs to know about your "expertise" in software development.
A good trade off (Score:2)
I much prefer a big RC7 and an extended RC phase, than use-after-free race conditions and silent data loss. Thank you AI.
Re: (Score:2)
Except that too much AI slop is the reason why those were brand new bugs.
Re: A good trade off (Score:3)
What are you talking about? They aren't new bugs. They are newly *discovered* bugs. Can you even read a Slashdot summary? AI isn't being used to write code. It is being used to review it and to find already existing bugs.
Re: A good trade off (Score:2)
Those were human made bugs. The point of the article is that AI is finding real actual bugs at a high rate.