Linux: Torvalds starts development of Kernel 7.0

Linus Torvalds kicked off the development of Linux Kernel 7.0 on Sunday. Two weeks after the release of the last kernel 6.19, he closed the so-called merge window and released the first release candidate of Linux 7.0.

New Linux Kernel Major Version

In an announcement email to the Linux kernel mailing list, Torvalds jokes that "We have a new major number purely because I'm easily confused and not good with big numbers." – "We haven't done releases based on features (or on "stable vs unstable") for a long long time now," he further explains. "So that new major number does *not* mean that we have some big new exciting feature, or that we're somehow leaving old interfaces behind. It's the usual "solid progress" marker, nothing more."

With our normal release schedule of 5-6 releases per year and my antipathy to big version numbers," one should generally expect the major version number to be bumped roughly every three and a half years, Torvalds explains further. "And yeah, I don't have a solid plan for when the major number itself gets big. But doing the math - by that time, I expect that we'll have somebody more competent in charge who isn't afraid of numbers past the teens." So he isn't worried about it.

Torvalds further reports that contrary to all fears regarding a zero version, which some people might have due to their experiences with other projects, the merge window this time was quite smooth. He defines merge windows as when he doesn't have to fix boot errors on half the machines. "Admittedly, this time it was because I caught a failure case early before I booted with it, but hey, that technically still counts as 'smooth' for me," Torvalds jokes further.

He continues joking: "But your milage may vary. Which is why you should now all drop everything, run to your computers, and test-build and test-boot a shiny new kernel. The fact that it all works for *me* is good, but let's make sure it works for others too, ok? Just kidding. A leisurely stroll after you've finished chewing is fine."

Torvalds finds the list of changes in Release Candidate 1 too long, so he appends a keyword-only list describing what he has incorporated into the kernel from whom. This time, the changes concern drivers to two-thirds, and the remaining third is a rather random collection of architecture files, file systems, tools, and random kernel core code. The planned release date for Kernel 7.0 is mid-April, with the usual seven or eight release candidates appearing weekly.

Unassuming Linux Kernel 6.19

Kernel 6.19 saw the light of day in early February. Linus Torvalds had little to say about it, instead talking more about the expected standstill due to the Super Bowl in the USA and the announcement that the next kernel is the now-developing Kernel 7.0. Compared to the last 6.19 release candidate, numerous minor bug fixes were added. When closing the merge window in Kernel 6.19-rc1, Linus Torvalds explained that many of the proposed changes concerned the use of the automatic compiler cleanup infrastructure, with the VFS layer (Virtual File System) standing out in particular. Furthermore, several drivers programmed in Rust were taking shape. The "mainly preparation and infrastructure" phase has now transitioned into "actual driver and subsystem development."

Otherwise, the big picture looked quite normal. Half of the rc1 patch consists of driver updates (GPU, networking, media, and sound stand out as major subsystems, but pretty much everything is included). The rest is a mixed bag of architecture updates, tools, Rust support, documentation, and kernel core updates (MM, scheduler, networking).

The Linux Kernel 6.18 was released in early December 2025. It is an LTS kernel with long-term support. However, there were still many last-minute bug fixes before the release.

(dmk)