Open Source Summit Europe Announcing the release of Linux kernel 6.11, unveiled remotely from Vienna, featuring enhanced monochrome TV support. Indeed, this marks a significant update for 2024.
The renowned figure of the Linux community, Linus Torvalds, was present at the Open Source Summit in Austria, yet continued to work from his hotel room, delivering the latest version of the Linux kernel. This release includes the expected improvements in device drivers and hardware compatibility, alongside some more intriguing modifications.
The previous version, kernel 6.10, introduced a variant of Windows’ notorious blue screen of death, a semi-graphical feature known as DRM Panic. You can find a comprehensive overview on the project page detailing its integration into Fedora 42. It’s worth noting that this is distinct from the BSOD feature that was rolled out in systemd 255, but it certainly feels like a quintessential example of The Linux Way for two separate subsystems to arrive simultaneously with similar functionalities.
The DRM Panic handler is incorporated within the kernel’s Direct Rendering Manager. It has the capability to present a message even if text consoles are disabled. In kernel 6.11, there’s an upgrade that allows graphical displays, introducing exciting new features such as the ability to convey error messages in the form of QR codes.
According to Phoronix, the Raspberry Pi developers have enabled support in kernel 6.11 for displaying signals compatible with black-and-white televisions. Raspberry Pi hardware is frequently utilized in applications such as digital signage and CCTV systems, where high-quality displays may not be available. With this new kernel version, it is now possible to output classic low-resolution monochrome video, leveraging composite video. While we hope you never experience it, if you do, take solace in the fact that your open source black screen of death can now be grainier and less colorful than ever before.
In other news from kernel 6.11, the io_uring kernel call interface has expanded to support two new types of system calls: the bind() and listen() API calls for socket management. The io_uring feature was introduced in kernel 5.1 back in 2019, and The Register provided additional insights a few years later. The challenge with many explanations about its operation, even the more informative ones, is that they are often tailored for programmers, making them less accessible for those without a technical background.
One way to look at io_uring is to compare it to how bus-mastering DMA functioned for EIDE hard disks during the Windows NT period. Disk DMA allowed Windows NT’s multitasking kernel to perform other operations while waiting for the slower hard disk to transfer data into memory. This wasn’t useful for the older DOS-based Windows 9x systems, but on NT, it made EIDE disks perform almost as fast as their more expensive SCSI counterparts. Users could even notice the difference.
With io_uring, Linux applications can line up specific system calls in what kernel developers refer to as a circular buffer. Although it’s not truly circular—it’s essentially a linear segment of memory—it is functionally infinite: when the end is reached, it loops back to the beginning. This allows the application to continue processing while awaiting data from the kernel.
Linux has a distinct feature that complicates the portability of programs to other Unix-like operating systems, like the BSDs. However, this uniqueness holds the potential to significantly enhance performance, especially as more system calls can be managed in this manner.
Kernel version 6.11 brings numerous specialized advancements as well. Enhancements include better compatibility with AMD and Qualcomm processors, support for hot-pluggable Arm processors, drivers catering to Intel’s Arrow Lake and Lunar Lake chips, improved virtualization support on Loongson, and an updated version of Rust among other enhancements.
This release is intended to be short-term, with the upcoming long-term kernel anticipated to be 6.12, likely arriving around November. Recently included in the ongoing 6.12 development is the Intel-backed PREEMPT_RT patch. Some distributors are already providing versions with this real-time patch enabled, such as Canonical’s Real-time Ubuntu. It is anticipated that this feature will soon gain wider adoption, leading to a more responsive Linux experience.
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