The Dell-WMI-Sysman driver on Linux allows for managing BIOS settings from within Linux using sysfs. This dell-wmi-sysman kernel driver supports most Dell platforms from 2018 and newer for convenient BIOS management.

Landlock as the Linux security module for unprivileged access control handling is adding new controls around Unix socket handling with the Linux 6.12 kernel.

The Flash-Friendly File-System (F2FS) updates have been submitted for the Linux 6.12 merge window.

Months ago Intel Linux engineers began adapting the Linux kernel to end the assumptions made around "Family 6" for Intel CPUs that had been used since the 90's with the Pentium Pro as the CPU family ID. With Linux 6.12 they finished the Intel CPU family/model ID restructuring and now we have the first patch confirming a post-Family 6 Intel CPU: Diamond Rapids is Family 19.

AMD's GPUOpen team has released HIP RT 2.4 as the newest version of this open-source ray-tracing library built atop their HIP interface.

Linux 6.11 introduced the getrandom() in the vDSO support for faster yet secure user-space random number generation needs. Initially that was focused on Linux x86_64 while for Linux 6.12 is ported to five more architectures.

The media subsystem updates were submitted today for the Linux 6.12 kernel merge window. Notable this cycle is a new HDMI CEC driver for a 4K HDMI splitter/amplifier for those looking for a device that can be controlled from within Linux using the HDMI Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) specification.

The Servo open-source browser layout engine has supported making use of the Firefox Devtools code for the provided web developer tools such as the HTML web page inspector and browser console. But that support had fallen into disrepair. Fortunately, thanks to a useful Outreachy project, the code has been updated and now working nicely with the newer Devtools code.

Back in June it was teased that Framework Computer in collaboration with DeepComputing would be releasing a RISC-V motherboard for the Framework Laptop 13. That RISC-V laptop motherboard has yet to be officially released but Linux kernel patches were posted today for enabling the DeviceTree support so Linux can boot on this upcoming board.

Following Vulkan Video H.264/H.265 video encoder support being merged into the FFmpeg library, the latest improvement for this open-source multimedia API when leveraging Vulkan is implicit DRM synchronization.

In between Linus Torvalds' busy week being in Vienna for the Linux Kernel Maintainer Summit and related Linux Foundation events as well as managing the Linux 6.12 merge window with landing new features like sched_ext and real-time PREEMPT_RT, he also managed to finish up some of his own code for this next kernel version. Being merged today is his own code working on a new user access fast validation path using address masking.

The perf tooling changes were merged today for the in-development Linux 6.12 kernel. Notable on the perf tools side is supporting some features found in newer Intel processors.

Bcachefs lead developer Kent Overstreet has submitted all of the Bcachefs file-system feature patches for the Linux 6.12 kernel merge window. In his pull request he also lays out his ambitions to remove the "EXPERIMENTAL" flag from Bcachefs within the next year.

The PCI changes for the in-development Linux 6.12 kernel add support for Native PCIe Enclosure Management "NPEM" as a code contribution by Intel for implementing the PCIe spec to standardize storage LEDs.

Microsoft's Windows Dev Kit 2023 also known as "Project Volterra" was an early effor to improve the Windows on ARM support by developers via having a nice small form factor ARM PC to run Windows 11. With pending DeviceTree patches there would be mainline support for the Windows Dev Kit 2023 under Linux.

Linux 6.12 is shaping up to be a heck of a kernel update! Following real-time "PREEMPT_RT" going mainline after twenty years and many other kernel features merged this week, Linus Torvalds just pulled in the much anticipated sched_ext code!

The kernel patches collected by Andrew Morton were upstreamed today for the Linux 6.12 kernel. Among those changes are pulling in the updated XZ Embedded code.

While not as exciting as some of the shiny new features for Linux 6.12 like real-time going mainline and Lunar Lake and Battlemage graphics by default, the Firewire (IEEE-1394) subsystem has seen some significant alterations this cycle. With Firewire hardware increasingly rare, the maintainer is hoping to get this Linux 6.12 code better tested by the community.

While there sadly the previously-annual Phoronix meet-up at Oktoberfest in Munich remains defunct, in honor of Oktoberfest 2024 kicking off this weekend in Munich, it's time for the annual Phoronix Premium special. With the Oktoberfest sale you can go ad-free, multi-page articles on a single page, native dark mode support, and other benefits while supporting the site and enjoying a discounted rate.

Linux 6.12 yesterday merged the real-time "PREEMPT_RT" patches that had been in development for two decades. Today another big hitting feature was merged for Linux 6.12 that's been in development nearly as long.