The Features So Far To The Linux 4.8 Kernel: ACPI LPI, Security, Btrfs ENOSPC, HDMI CEC

Written by Michael Larabel in Linux Kernel on 1 August 2016 at 08:16 AM EDT. 3 Comments
LINUX KERNEL
We've now started the back-half of the two week merge window for the Linux 4.8 kernel. Here's a recap of all the pull requests I covered during the first week of this yet another exciting kernel cycle.

The material submitted so far for Linux 4.8 includes:

Security:

- ASLR for kernel memory sections.

- Numerous /dev/random improvements.

- Intel MPX enhancements and the MM pull also has work towards virtually mapped kernel stacks.

- Hardened Usercopy Protection is being mainlined.

File-Systems / Storage:

- Unified EXT4 encryption code.

- NVMe over Fabrics work and other block changes.

- Improved support for Shingled Magnetic Recording.

- Basic churn in the XFS and F2FS file-systems.

- Performance improvements to the NFS client.

- The big Btrfs ENOSPC rework has landed for potentially better throughput and lower latency.

Hardware:

- ACPI Low-Power Idle

- The HDMI CEC framework is finally being mainlined!

- The new Intel Virtual Button driver for benefiting some newer laptops.

- Microsoft Surface 3 touch-screen support.

- New ASoC sound drivers including for some Mediatek platforms and the Allwinner A10.

- Continued prepping for IBM POWER9 CPUs.

Other:

- The usual assortment of other routine changes.

Stay tuned for more coverage of the Linux 4.8 merge window as the period continues until next weekend, followed by our usual kernel benchmarks. There's still the DRM pull request ahead (our favorite, of course!) and more to look forward to this week.
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Michael Larabel

Michael Larabel is the principal author of Phoronix.com and founded the site in 2004 with a focus on enriching the Linux hardware experience. Michael has written more than 20,000 articles covering the state of Linux hardware support, Linux performance, graphics drivers, and other topics. Michael is also the lead developer of the Phoronix Test Suite, Phoromatic, and OpenBenchmarking.org automated benchmarking software. He can be followed via Twitter, LinkedIn, or contacted via MichaelLarabel.com.

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