Linus Torvalds Announces Linux Kernel 3.7 RC2

Linus Torvalds announced the immediate availability for download of the second released candidate for the Linux 3.7 kernel series.

Linux kernel 3.7 RC2 comes with a lot of new features, according to Linus Torvalds. Among the listed changes, we find that now the "uapi" includes file cleanups.

Linus Torvalds warned us that a lot of the new updates would be done while he’d be on the move, and this latest version is no different. The announcement was made from an airport.

“For the last few months, it's almost become a habit of mine to make the occasional release from the airport while flying out somewhere. And this is another such one. Go free PDX airport wireless!”

Linux kernel 3.7 RC2 changes are dominated by uapi changes, but there are also some DRM and USB driver changes, not to mention a lot of other smaller fixes.

“In pure lines, the uapi stuff (even with rename detection) dwarfs everything else, and the diffstat of -rc2 is very unusual. Instead of the normal "65% drivers, random everything else", it's "50% arch patches (largely uapi header files), 30% include (more uapi header file changes, and 20% everything else,” said Linus Torvalds.

Highlights of Linux kernel 3.7 RC2:

• A minor improvement in the ALC calibration process has been made;
• More ZTE devices have been added;
• Possible non-initialized variable on htree_dirblock_to_tree() have been fixed;
• Automatic generation of uapi/asm/ header files is now allowed;
• Hazard between tlb write and pagemask restoration has been fixed;
• LPM is enabled after a failed probe;
• OMAP4 DMIC platform device error message has been repaired.

A complete list of changes and fixes can be found in the official mailing list.

Download Linux kernel 3.7 RC2 right now from Softpedia. Remember that this is a development release and it is intended for testing purposes only.