Linux 5.1-rc1 is now available for public testing

Mar 17, 2019 20:00 GMT  ·  By

Linus Torvalds kicked off today the development cycle of the forthcoming Linux 5.1 kernel series with the release of the first RC (Release Candidate) milestone for public testing.

Two weeks have passed since the release of the major Linux 5.0 kernel series, so now the merge window is closed for the next release, Linux kernel 5.1, and the new development cycle is open. Everything is in normal parameters for the Linux 5.1 kernel, which now has a first Release Candidate milestone ready for public testing.

"It's Sunday, and two weeks have passed, and everything is normal. You all know the drill by now - the merge window is closed, and things are supposed to calm down," said Linus Torvalds. "The merge window felt fairly normal to me. And looking at the stats, nothing really odd stands out either. It's a regular sized release."

The first Release Candidate of Linux kernel 5.1 is a bit larger in size than the latest Linux 5.0 kernel release, and, according to Linus Torvalds, it consists of just over 60 percent updated and new GPU, networking, block devices, and other drivers (worth mentioning is the inclusion of the Habana Labs AI accelerator chip driver), as well as core VFS and low-level file system updates.

Linux kernel 5.1 expected to arrive in May 2019

The final release of the Linux 5.1 kernel series is expected to arrive in May 2019, either on May 5th if the development cycle will have only seven RC (Release Candidate) milestones or on May 12th if Linus Torvalds decided an eighth Release Candidate is needed to provide the Linux community with a rock-solid Linux kernel 5.1 release.

Until then, early adopters and those who are interested in testing and deploying the upcoming Linux 5.1 kernel on their devices can now download the first Release Candidate right now from kernel.org or via our free software portal. Please keep in mind not to install this pre-release kernel on production machines.