The Linux kernel, the core component of the Linux operating system, has reached version 6.5, which was announced by its creator Linus Torvalds on August 27, 2023. The new release comes with several new features and improvements, such as initial support for Wi-Fi 7 and USB4, performance enhancements for AMD and Intel processors, better support for gaming controllers, and more.

Wi-Fi 7 and USB4 Support

One of the highlights of Linux Kernel 6.5 is the initial support for Wi-Fi 7 and USB4 v2, the latest standards for wireless networking and data transfer. Wi-Fi 7, also known as IEEE 802.11be, is expected to offer up to four times faster speeds than Wi-Fi 6E, reaching up to 40 Gbps. USB4 v2, also known as USB4 Gen3x2, is designed to deliver up to 40 Gbps of data transfer speed as well. Both standards are still under development, but Linux Kernel 6.5 provides some basic support for them.

Performance Enhancements for AMD and Intel Processors

Another major feature of Linux Kernel 6.5 is the performance enhancements for AMD and Intel processors. For AMD processors, the kernel now defaults to using the P-State “Active” mode, which is a new driver that replaces the CPUFreq subsystem and provides better power management and efficiency. For Intel processors, the kernel now supports Indirect Branch Tracking (IBT), which is a security feature that prevents speculative execution attacks like Spectre and Meltdown. The kernel also supports Intel TPMI, which is a new interface for managing power management features on Intel platforms.

Better Support for Gaming Controllers

Linux Kernel 6.5 also brings better support for gaming controllers, especially for Microsoft Xbox controllers. The kernel now supports rumble feedback for more Xbox controllers, including the Xbox One Elite Series 2 controller and the Xbox Series X/S controller. The kernel also fixes some sound issues for the ASUS ROG Ally gaming headset.

Other Changes and Improvements

• Support for writing kernel modules in Rust, a programming language that offers memory safety and concurrency features.
• Support for LoongArch, a new instruction set architecture developed by Loongson Technology in China.
• Support for Big TCP, a new congestion control algorithm that can handle large bandwidth-delay product networks.
• Support for more secure encrypted virtualization with AMD SEV-SNP and Intel TDX.
• Support for Armv9 Scalable Matrix Extension, a new feature that enables matrix arithmetic operations on Arm processors.
• Support for unaccepted memory, a new type of memory that can be used by applications without being mapped by the kernel.
• Support for MIDI 2.0 and USB4 v2, two new standards that enhance musical instrument digital interface and universal serial bus technologies.
• Support for NVIDIA SHIELD devices, such as the NVIDIA SHIELD TV and the NVIDIA SHIELD Tablet.
• Further Wi-Fi 7 enablement, such as support for multi-link operation and enhanced multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO).

The Debian project today released its new stable version 12 (code name bookworm). The bookworm is coming with LTS support and will be supported for the next 5 years which includes Linux 6.1 LTS kernel.

One of the biggest feature launched with Debian 12 is a new archive area making it possible to separate non-free firmware from the other non-free packages. Most non-free firmware packages have been moved from non-free to non-free-firmware. This separation makes it possible to build a variety of official installation images.

Debian 12 also brings read/write support for APFS (Apple File System) with the apfsprogs and apfs-dkms utilities, a new tool called ntfs2btrfs that lets you convert NTFS drives to Btrfs, a new malloc implementation called mimalloc, a new kernel SMB server called ksmbd-tools, and support for the merged-usr root file system layout.

With the release of the “bookworm”, Debian has now enhanced their collection of man pages way more than ever before with translations now available in zech, Danish, Greek, Finnish, Indonesian, Macedonian, Norwegian (Bokmål), Russian, Serbian, Swedish, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese. All of the systemd man pages are now completely available in German.

With this broad selection of packages and its traditional wide architecture support, Debian once again stays true to its goal of being The Universal Operating System. It is suitable for many different use cases: from desktop systems to netbooks; from development servers to cluster systems; and for database, web, and storage servers. At the same time, additional quality assurance efforts like automatic installation and upgrade tests for all packages in Debian’s archive ensure that bookworm fulfills the high expectations that users have of a stable Debian release.

If you are running the previous version of Debian, Debian 11 “bullseye”, an upgrade to Debian 12 “bookworm” is as simple as running the APT package management tools for the upgrade.

Refer to the official Debian 12 release announcement for more details on the changes in Debian 12 architecture.

Ubuntu 23.04 released just days prior to the release of Linux Kernel 6.3. Ubuntu 23.04 came built with Linux Kernel 6.2 and as with every other updates on a OS, every new Kernel gets support for new processors and devices. For this additional stability and features, we decided to upgrade our Ubuntu 23.04 installation to the latest Linux Kernel 6.3!

Follow through this post to know how to upgrade Ubuntu to 23.04 and linux kernel to the latest Kernel 6.3

Prepare for the upgrade…

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get install update-manager-core

Upgrade Ubuntu kernel version

cd /tmp
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:cappelikan/ppa -y
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt install mainline -y

Finishing up

sudo reboot
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

Check the upgrade

uname -r

That`s it, now you should be running on the latest best-looking Ubuntu 23 and more secure latest Linux Kernel. Do let us know how did the upgrade go for you and feel free to comment if you had any issues.

Linux kernel 6.3 include a new DRM accelerated driver for Intel VPU (Versatile Processing Unit) that supports VPU IP 2.7 integrated into 14th Generation Intel “Meteor Lake” client CPUs, Rust code support for x86_64 user-mode Linux, AES-SHA2-based encryption for the NFS file system, and support for AMD’s “automatic IBRS” feature.

“It’s been a calm release this time around, and the last week was really no different. So here we are, right on schedule, with the 6.3 release out and ready for your enjoyment.” as quoted by Linus Torvalds.

Some quick highlights

• Improved Steam Deck hardware support.
• Improved support for the Logitech G923 Xbox Edition steering wheel.
• Work towards Intel Meteor Lake support.
• Automatic IBRS for AMD Zen 4, to improve Spectre V2 mitigations.
• Logitech B910 and C910 improvements for autosuspend functionality.
• Support for the Logitech MX Master 3S mouse.
• ASUS B650/B660/X670 board support improvements.
• Support for the 8BitDo Pro 2 Wired Controller.
• New power management drivers for ARM and RISC-V ship in Linux 6.3. The latter also picks up support for accelerated string functions (by way of the Zbb bit manipulation extension) and the former gains support for scalable matrix extension 2 instructions.
• In filesystems, the NFS filesystem (both the client and server sides) now supports AES-SHA2-based encryption; optimisations to EXT4 direct I/O performance; low-latency decompression for EROFS, and a faster Brtfs file-system driver.

How to download Linux Kernel 6.3

You can download Linux kernel 6.3 from the kernel.org website, but you’ll have to compile it by hand to actually do anything with it.