Linus Torvalds announced the first release candidate (RC1) for the Linux Kernel 6.14 on February 2, 2025. This version is a bit different because it's smaller than usual. This is because the maintainers who work on the Linux kernel did less work over the holidays.
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A Smaller, but Still Big Release
Even though it's called "tiny", this release still includes a lot of changes. There are about 9,300 commits (changes) that are not merges and about half a million lines of code have been changed. Most of these changes are in the drivers which make hardware work with the computer.
Linus wrote about Linux Kernel 6.14 RC1 in the release announcement mail:
[…]
Of course, "tiny" for us still means that there's half a million lines
changed, and more than 10k commits in there - but only barely. In
fact, not counting merges there's only something like 9.3k commits. So
the shortlog is still much too large to post - it's really "tiny" only
when compared to our normal releases.
[…]
Key Changes in Kernel 6.14-rc1
- Drivers: About half of the changes are in the drivers. This includes updates for many types of hardware, like graphics cards, network cards, and storage devices.
- Architecture Updates: There are also changes for different computer architectures, like x86, ARM and others.
- Filesystem Improvements: Changes have been made to how the computer stores and manages files.
- Tooling and Documentation: Improvements have also been made to tools and documentation for the kernel.
Testing and Issues
The kernel is tested to make sure everything works well. In this release, there were some problems found:
- Build Failures: Some parts of the kernel failed to build for i386, parisc and sparc64 computers. This means the computer could not create the operating system from the source code. These problems are being fixed with patches.
- Qemu Test Failures: Some tests using Qemu (a computer emulator) failed. Most of these were on ARM computers. The problems were with network, storage, and USB parts.
- Unit Test Failures: Some small tests inside the kernel also failed. Most of these were related to stack initialization.
Even with these problems, the developers are working on fixing them. There is a special "fixes" branch where you can find the patches, the changes to solve the problems.
Try Linux Kernel 6.14 RC1
This 6.14-rc1 release is smaller than usual, but it still has a lot of important changes. Since it's smaller, it will be easier to make it stable and ready for the final release. But, the problems found in testing need to be fixed first.
The Kernel maintainers are already working on fixes for the issues found. They will keep testing and making changes until the kernel is ready. We can expect to see more updates as they work towards the final 6.14 release.
We encourage the users and developers to test this release candidate thoroughly. Linux Kernel 6.14 RC1 can be downloaded from the Kernel.org website or the Linus Torvalds's git tree.
Expected Release Date for Linux Kernel 6.14 Final Version
The release schedule for the Linux kernel typically follows a predictable pattern. After the Release Candidate (RC) phase begins, there are usually 6 to 8 RC versions, with each RC released weekly.
Given that Linux Kernel 6.14 RC1 was released on February 2, 2025, we can estimate the final release date as follows:
- If there are 7 RC versions (a common number), the final release would be approximately 7 weeks after RC1.
- Adding 7 weeks to February 2, 2025, brings us to around March 23, 2025.
This is an estimate, as the exact number of RCs can vary depending on the stability and readiness of the kernel. If more RCs are needed, the release could be delayed slightly. Conversely, if fewer RCs are required, the release could happen earlier.
