14 DAY TRIAL // Only five days after releasing Linux kernel 4.9.8, developer Greg Kroah-Hartman announced today the general availability of the ninth maintenance update to the long-term supported Linux 4.9 kernel series.
With 74 files changed (506 insertions and 321 deletions), Linux kernel 4.9.9 is now considered the most advanced and secure stable kernel version there is for a Linux-based operating system. According to the appended shortlog, the biggest part of the patch includes updated drivers, this time for things like BCMA, DMA, GPU (AMDGPU, Intel i915, Nouveau), iiO, HID, InfiniBand, PCI, PINCTRL, USB, Vhost, and Virtio.
"I'm announcing the release of the 4.9.9 kernel. All users of the 4.9 kernel series must upgrade. The updated 4.9.y git tree can be found at: git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-stable.git linux-4.9.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," said Greg Kroah-Hartman.
x86 and PowerPC improvements, some NFS changes too
The rest of the Linux 4.9.9 kernel patch are various x86, PowerPC (PPC), Xtensa, and ARM64 (AArch64) improvements, and there are also some small fixes for the CIFS, EXT4, and NFS filesystems. The rest of the patch are core kernel and mm changes, as well as an updated networking stack with a SunRPC fix. Again, you should check the entire changelog (link above) if you're interested in all the technical details.
If you're using a GNU/Linux distribution powered by a kernel from the Linux 4.9 series, you are urged to update to Linux kernel 4.9.9. OS vendors can download the Linux 4.9.9 kernel tarball right now from kernel.org or via our website, compile and tweak it for their supported hardware architectures and push it to the stable channels for users to update at their earliest convenience.