More RT Code Out For Review, RT Patches Updated Against Linux 5.14

Written by Michael Larabel in Linux Kernel on 31 July 2021 at 06:06 AM EDT. 5 Comments
LINUX KERNEL
The real-time (RT) patches for the Linux kernel still appear a ways off from mainline but at least there is movement on this important patch series for embedded and other use-cases needing real-time support.

While mainlining the long out-of-tree Linux "RT" patches has been brought up many times in recent years, earlier this year the developers noted the mainlining has been held up by a lack of funding in getting the patches across the finish line. The PREEMPT_RT "development and maintenance is currently stalled" at least as was the case earlier this year but does seem to be loosening up a bit now.

Following last month's RT rebasing to Linux 5.13, the first RT patches against the current Linux 5.14 development code has been published. v5.14-rc3-rt1 was posted on Friday. The real-time patches were re-based against the Linux 5.14 development state, the locking code saw some updates, some SLUB code was also updated, MEMCG support was disabled, and some ARM64 fixes also incorporated.

Also on Friday a set of 63 patches around the PREEMPT-RT locking infrastructure was posted for review. This represents most of RT's locking code. These patches shouldn't affect non-RT kernel behavior but still need to go through an extensive review before mainlining. This is also just a portion of the overall RT work with no clear indication yet when the entire patch series may go into the mainline tree.
Related News
About The Author
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.

Popular News This Week