Thanks to the Canonical decision to [1]commit to shipping the very latest upstream Linux kernels in Ubuntu releases moving forward, Ubuntu 24.10 shipping in October will have the [2]Linux 6.11 kernel that is debuting as stable in mid-September. Canonical's kernel engineers are currently preparing for rolling out that new kernel version in the Oracular Oriole archive.

While the kernel feature freeze is coming up for 12 September and colliding with the Linux 6.11 kernel cycle that will see its stable release around the same time, Canonical's new kernel version policy ensures that Linux 6.11 will be used by Ubuntu 24.10.

At the moment a Linux 6.11-based release candidate kernel can be found in the "oracular-proposed" package archive for those running Ubuntu 24.10 daily builds and wanting to help test that new kernel version compared to Linux 6.8 currently used as what's found in Ubuntu 24.04 LTS.

Today's [3]Ubuntu Discourse update on Linux 6.11 for Ubuntu 24.10 does carry the warning that due to the tight release there may be some known issues at release-time:

"Given the current schedule of the upstream 6.11 development cycle, with 6.11-rc5 released on 2024-08-25, Ubuntu 24.10 will be considered a Tight Release from the kernel standpoint. This means that the Ubuntu 6.11 kernel included in the 24.10 release might have some limitations or known issues that will be addressed after the release."

The Linux 6.11 kernel for Ubuntu 24.10 is being built using the GCC 14 compiler and also carries a new AppArmor / Stacking LSM patch-set maintained by Canonical.

Take a look at the new [4]Linux 6.11 features to learn more about what's coming in this next version of the upstream kernel.



[1] https://www.phoronix.com/news/Ubuntu-Releases-Fresher-Kernels

[2] https://www.phoronix.com/search/Linux+6.11

[3] https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/introducing-kernel-6-11-for-the-24-10-oracular-oriole-release/47560

[4] https://www.phoronix.com/review/linux-611-features