Linux Kernel 5.17 Code Merge Window is Closed

Now that the holidays are in the rearview mirror, Linus Torvalds' family-related travels are over and he can go back to doing what he does best… the Linux kernel. As expected, there are plenty of bug fixes, code cleanups, and new features. Although there aren't any absolute game-changers coming, there are some interesting fixes and additions.

ARM64 will receive the addition of a Kernel Concurrency Sanitizer (KSCAN), which is a race condition detector. Also introduced is the initial work for the Scalable Matrix Extensions that will provide better and faster support for Matrix operations on ARM64 architecture. ARM is also gaining support for Snapdragon 8 (gen 1) and X65 platforms.

AMD is bringing k10temp-based CPU temperature monitoring for its AMD Zen 19h line of CPUs. AMD also sees the inclusion of the AMD P-State driver, which will lead to better power efficiency on hardware such as the Steam Deck.

Laptops and tablets will see a good amount of improvements, such as custom fan curve support for ASUS ROG laptops, support for Universal Stylus Initiative and NVIDIA Tegra Tablets, as well as several performance improvements and bug fixes for sleep and sound issues on AMD laptops.

Other improvements/fixes include: Intel Alder Lap P graphics is now stable in the mainline kernel, initial support for Raptor Lake S graphics, Intel's Gen Icelake Graphics receives support for Variable Refresh Rate/Adaptive-Sync, EXT4 now uses the new Linux Mount API, performance increases for F2FS, Btrfs, and XFS, FS-Cache and CacheFiles modules have been rewritten, and a floppy disk hang bug has been fixed.

You can now download Linux kernel 5.17-rc2 for testing purposes.