14 DAY TRIAL // After announcing the release of Linux kernel 4.6.4, which is now the most advanced stable kernel branch available, Greg Kroah-Hartman has informed the community about the debut of Linux kernel 4.4.15 LTS.
The Linux 4.4 kernel series is an LTS (Long Term Support) one, which means that it will be supported with security patches and bug fixes for a few more years as compared to the normal Linux kernel branches. Because of this, many popular GNU/Linux operating systems use it, no matter if they are following a static or rolling release model. Among these, we can mention Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus), Arch Linux, and Solus.
"I'm announcing the release of the 4.4.15 kernel. All users of the 4.4 kernel series must upgrade," said Greg Kroah-Hartman. "The updated 4.4.y git tree can be found at: git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-stable.git linux-4.4.y and can be browsed at the normal kernel.org git web browser: http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-stable.git;a=summary."
Updated USB drivers, networking stack improvements
According to the appended shortlog, Linux kernel 4.4.15 LTS is a small maintenance update that includes approximately the same changes that are present in today's Linux 4.6.4 kernel release. Worth mentioning are updated crypto and USB drivers, but there are also improvements to the networking stack, for things like the packet scheduler, the IPv6 and IPv4 protocols, the AX.25 data link layer protocol, and Bridge.
In numbers, Linux kernel 4.4.15 LTS changes a total of 41 files, with 248 insertions and 131 deletions. If you are using a GNU/Linux distribution powered by a kernel from the Linux 4.4 LTS kernel series, we recommend that you update your installation to version 4.4.15 as soon as it arrives in the main software repositories. Solus users are the luckiest ones, as they are the first to get the Linux kernel 4.4.15 LTS update, whose sources are available for download right now via our website or directly from kernel.org.