Linux 6.16 Brings Faster File Systems, Improved Confidential Memory Support, And More Rust Support

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The changes successful nan latest Linux kernel, Linux 6.16, whitethorn beryllium small, but they see immoderate important ones. Linus Torvalds himself summed up this merchandise arsenic looking fine, small, and calm, but not "really not each that absorbing (in each nan champion ways!)."

Here's my database of what's caller and improved. 

First, nan Rust language is continuing to go much well-integrated into nan kernel. At nan apical of my database is that nan kernel now boasts Rust bindings for nan driver halfway and PCI instrumentality subsystem. This attack will make it easier to adhd caller Rust-based hardware drivers to Linux. 

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Additionally, caller Rust abstractions person been integrated into nan Direct Rendering Manager (DRM), peculiarly for ioctl handling, file/GEM representation management, and driver/device infrastructure for awesome GPU vendors, specified arsenic AMD, Nvidia, and Intel. These changes should trim vulnerabilities and optimize graphics performance. This will make gamers and AI/ML developers happier. 

Linux 6.16 besides brings wide improvements to Rust crate support. Crate is Rust's packaging format. This will make it easier to build, maintain, and merge Rust kernel modules into nan kernel.

For those of you who still emotion C, don't worry. The immense mostly of kernel codification remains successful C, and Rust is improbable to switch C soon. In a decade, we whitethorn beryllium telling different story. 

Beyond Rust, this latest merchandise besides comes pinch respective awesome record strategy improvements. For starters, nan XFS filesystem now supports ample atomic writes. This capacity intends that ample multi-block constitute operations are "atomic," meaning each blocks are updated aliases none. This enhances information integrity and prevents information constitute errors. This move is important for companies that usage XFS for databases and large-scale storage. 

Perhaps nan astir celebrated Linux record system, Ext4, is besides getting galore improvements. These boosts see faster perpetrate paths, ample folio support, and atomic multi-fsblock writes for bigalloc filesystems. What these improvements mean, if you're not a file-system nerd, is that we should spot speedups of up to 37% for sequential I/O workloads. 

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If your Linux laptop doubles arsenic a euphony player, different bully caller characteristic is that you tin now watercourse your audio complete USB moreover while nan remainder of your strategy is asleep. That capability's been disposable successful Android for a while, but now it's portion of mainline Linux.

If information is simply a apical privilege for you, nan 6.16 kernel now supports Intel Trusted Execution Technology (TXT) and Intel Trusted Domain Extensions (TDX). This addition, on pinch Linux's improved support for AMD Secure Encrypted Virtualization and Secure Memory Encryption (SEV-SNP), enables you to encrypt your software's representation successful what's known as confidential computing. This characteristic improves unreality information by encrypting a user's virtual machine memory, meaning personification who cracks a unreality can't entree your data.

There are respective different Linux spot improvements successful this release. For starters, Linux now supports Intel Advanced Performance Extensions (APX). With APX, Linux tin now usage 32 general-purpose x86 registers. That's double older chips' 16 registers. This betterment intends you'll spot accrued capacity from next-generation Intel CPUs, specified arsenic nan Lunar Lake processors and nan Granite Rapids Xeon processors.

You'll besides beryllium capable to entree this improved processor capacity via nan caller CONFIG_X86_NATIVE_CPU option. This action enables users to build kernels optimized specifically for their processor. While immoderate group position this move arsenic a measurement for Linux hobbyists to get nan astir powerfulness from their laptops and desktops, I besides spot it arsenic a intends for business developers to create optimized Linux kernels for their servers.

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Linux 6.16 brings improved support for Nvidia's Blackwell GPUs. The Blackwell chips, utilized mostly for AI, are already being deployed successful high-end Linux desktops.

On nan web front, changes to really TCP/IP useful pinch DMABUF will alteration devices, including GPUs and AI accelerators, to velocity up their networks while not burdening nan CPU. While an mean personification whitethorn not announcement this change, high-performance networkers will spot nan acceleration.

And chances are that mean users will spot nan benefits if they use OpenVPN. OpenVPN's autochthonal networking protocol still won't tally arsenic accelerated arsenic WireGuard, but it will, astatine least, springiness it much of a race. 

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Looking ahead, Torvalds warns that things whitethorn not spell truthful smoothly pinch nan 6.17 release. "It's worthy noting that nan upcoming merge model for 6.17 is going to beryllium somewhat chaotic for me," Torvalds said. "I person aggregate family events this August (a wedding and a large birthday), and pinch said family being dispersed not only crossed nan US, but successful Finland too, I'm spending astir half nan period traveling." That schedule would slow anybody down.

So, for illustration a existent workaholic, Torvalds has already started front-loading his 6.17 workload. He hopes to get nan bulk of nan activity done wrong nan adjacent 2 weeks earlier he originates his travels. Torvalds said: "I already ended up giving a heads-up connected that to nan group who thin to nonstop maine nan astir propulsion requests. And indeed, I already person 50 propulsion requests pending, truthful acknowledgment to group who took that heads-up to heart." Still, Torvalds "might hold rc1 a spot conscionable to drawback up."

If you're a Linux kernel developer, though, don't deliberation that you tin expect to return it easy and gaffe a precocious propulsion request. The other is true, warned Torvalds: "That does not mean that I'll beryllium much lenient to precocious propulsion requests (probably rather nan reverse, since it's conscionable going to adhd to nan imaginable chaos)."