14 DAY TRIAL // Just a few days after the release of the Linux 4.18 kernel series, Linux kernel developer and maintainer Greg Kroah-Hartman announced the availability of the first point release, Linux kernel 4.18.1.
Linux kernel 4.18 was released on Sunday, August 12, 2018, by Linus Torvalds, and it's currently the most advanced kernel series available for Linux-based operating systems. The first point release, Linux 4.18.1, is now available, which marks the Linux 4.18 kernel series as stable and ready for mass deployments.
All Linux OS vendors are now urged to adopt the latest Linux 4.18 kernel series for their operating systems on supported architectures as it brings various new features, improvements, and updated drivers for better hardware support. Linux kernel 4.18.1 is now available for download from kernel.org or our software portal.
"I'm announcing the release of the 4.18.1 kernel. All users of the 4.18 kernel series must upgrade," said Greg Kroah-Hartman in a mailing list announcement. "The updated 4.18.y git tree can browsed at the normal kernel.org git web browser: http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-stable.git;a=summary."
Major features of the Linux 4.18 kernel series
As mentioned before, the Linux 4.18 kernel series comes with a bunch of new features and improvements, among which we can mention Spectre Variant 1 and 2 mitigations for the 32-bit ARM architecture, as well as Spectre Variant 4 mitigations for the ARM64 (AArch64) and ARMv8 architectures.
It also features a just-in-time compiler for eBPF programs on the 32-bit (x86) architecture, improved discard support for the F2FS (Flash-Friendly File System) file system, official support for the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 ARM mobile processor, and better support for USB Type-C and USB 3.2 connections.
Initial support for the upcoming Radeon Vega 20 graphics processing units is available as well in Linux kernel 4.18, along with numerous new and updated drivers, updated networking and sound stacks, and much more. Linux kernel 4.18.1 alone changes a total of 74 files, with 2211 insertions and 299 deletions, so update as soon as possible.