Linux Kernel 6.8 Reaches End of Life, Users Should Upgrade to Linux Kernel 6.9
Linux Kernel 6.8 Reaches End of Life, Users Should Upgrade to Linux Kernel 6.9
Linux kernel 6.8 reached end of life and all users are now recommended to upgrade their systems to Linux kernel 6.9.
EoL
released 10 weeks ago
Linux kernel any%
As there are LTS branches, currently 5.4, 5.10, 5.15, 6.1 and 6.6 which will get updates until Decembre 2025/2026, I don't see the problem.
And the older they are the less secure they are. LTS are not as great as people think. https://ciq.com/blog/why-a-frozen-linux-kernel-isnt-the-safest-choice-for-security/
These messages are damn useless
Distros take care of the kernel, either ship LTS releases or do the backports themselves. Only rolling release people run that kernel.
So this post is literally only useful for the 4 LFS users that now need to recompile their kernels.
Nice
Ni.ce
no.ice.
Feels like Linux 4.20 wasn't that long ago and we're already at Linux 6.9? At this rate Sex 2 will release and it won't even be exciting
It does feel that way, but...
"Linux 4.20 was released on Sun, 23 Dec 2018"
About 5.5 years.
(6.9-4.2)/(2024-2018) = 0.45 "version increments" per year.
4.2/(2018-1991) = 0.15 "version increments" per year.
So, the pace of version increases in the past 6 years has been around triple the average from the previous 27 years, since Linux' first release.
I guess I can see why 6.9 would seem pretty dramatic for long-time Linux users.
I wonder whether development has actually accelerated, or if this is just a change in the approach to the release/versioning process.
We run production loads on 2.6 kernel. Please don't ask questions.
Meanwhile Ubuntu:
Is there any particular reason this is news? I thought that's how most kernel updates went for the non-LTS releases. Or has something changed? What's different compared to all other kernel updates in rolling releases?
Are Linux kernel lifespans usually that short?
Yes, usual releases are supported ~ 3 months, LTS versions get support for a much longer period e.g. 6.6 for 3 y, 6.1 for 4 y, 5.15 for 5 y or 5.10 for 6 y.
