Linux 5.10 rc1 released as Long Term Support (LTS) Kernel. Linux Kernel 5.10 will be LTS after the earlier LTS Kernel 5.4.
This is the first release candidate for Kernel 5.10 and we expect more RCs until the final release in December.
Linux Kernel 5.10 brings mostly driver updates and as usual, processor supports, performance improvements across storage, and networking modules.
This Rc1 concludes the Merge window for this release. It adds around 14k commints.
This looks to be a bigger release than I expected, and while the merge
window is smaller than the one for 5.8 was, it’s not a lot smaller.
And 5.8 was our biggest release ever.I’m not entirely sure whether this is just a general upward trend (we
did seem to plateau for a while there), or just a fluke, or perhaps
due to 5.9 dragging out an extra week. We will see, I guess.That said, things seem to have gone fairly smoothly. I don’t see any
Linus
huge red flags, and the merge window didn’t cause any unusual issues
for me.
Table of Contents
What’s new in Linux Kernel 5.10
Processor Updates
- More work being added for the upcoming Intel Rocket Lake processors which will be released around March 2021.
- Early work started for MEteor Lake and Alder Lake processors.
- Major fixes done in AMD Zen 3 processor and performance updates
- SMT balancing tweaks in the schedular
- Zhaoxin 7-Series Centaur support.
- Storage Updates
- XFS filesystem now supports timestamps to year 2486 which is now year 2038.
- More performance updates to Btrfs
- Performance improvements to EXT4 which now supports faster commits and file overwrite.
Graphics Updates
- Power management fix for Radeon graphics
- Matrox G200 desktop graphics card support
- Raspberry Pi VC4 support
- Addition of feature support for Intel Rocket Lake Gen12 graphics and AMD RDNA/ Radeon RX 6000 series.
- More open-source DRM updates
Interfaces
- Synaptics touchpad support for new laptop models.
- Continuation of USB4 support which started earlier
- Intel DG1 audio output support
- Creative SoundBlaster Ae-7 support
Linux Kernel 5.10 being an LTS release, will be supported until the end of 2026. All the Linux flavors slowly start supporting Kernel 5.10 when released in December 2020. And it will be the last Kernel version update of this year.
