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linux_kernel_version_history

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Linux Kernel Version History

Return to Linux Kernel, Linux, Fedora Version History, Debian Version History, Linux Version History, Kernel, Version History, Versions, Linux Kernel Topics, Linux DevOps

The Linux kernel is the core of the Linux operating system, providing essential services like Linux process management, Linux memory management, and Linux hardware abstraction. Created by Linus Torvalds in 1991, the kernel has undergone continuous development, with each Linux release introducing new features, Linux performance improvements, and better Linux hardware support. The Linux kernel is at the heart of many Linux distributions, including popular Linux distros like Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, RHEL, and more. Below is a comprehensive version history of the Linux kernel, highlighting key features and changes introduced in each major release.

Linux Kernel 6.1 (December 2022)

Linux kernel 6.1 is notable for being a Linux long-term support (LTS) release, making it a critical release for Linux systems requiring Linux extended maintenance and Linux stability.

Official documentation: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest

Linux Kernel 6.0 (October 2022)

Linux kernel 6.0 brought improvements in hardware support and performance, particularly for newer architectures and devices.

  • ARM architecture improvements. Enhanced support for ARM processors, making the kernel more efficient on mobile and embedded devices.
  • Performance enhancements. Improved performance for certain workloads, including database operations and high-performance computing tasks.
  • Better GPU support. Added better support for modern GPUs, particularly from Intel and AMD, improving graphics performance and power management.
  • Networking improvements. Included enhancements to network stack performance and better support for high-speed networking interfaces.

Official documentation: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/

Linux Kernel 5.19 (July 2022)

Linux kernel 5.19 introduced many enhancements in power management, processor performance, and security.

  • New RISC-V features. Improved support for the RISC-V architecture, allowing more advanced features for this open-source processor architecture.
  • Better power management. Introduced better power management optimizations for Intel and AMD processors, improving battery life on laptops and efficiency in data centers.
  • Filesystem updates. Enhanced performance for Btrfs and XFS file systems, particularly in high-performance and large-scale deployments.
  • Networking updates. Improved support for high-speed network interfaces and added better tools for managing complex networking setups.
  • Security enhancements. Continued improving kernel security with mitigations for speculative execution vulnerabilities like Spectre and Meltdown.

Official documentation: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/

Linux Kernel 5.15 (October 2021)

Linux kernel 5.15 was another long-term support (LTS) release, bringing significant updates for file systems, security, and hardware support.

  • NTFS3 support. Added native support for NTFS3, improving file system compatibility with Microsoft Windows partitions, particularly for external drives.
  • In-kernel SMB server. Introduced an in-kernel SMB server, allowing the kernel to handle file-sharing protocols natively, improving performance and security.
  • Core scheduling. Added core scheduling to mitigate side-channel attacks on multi-threaded systems, providing better security for virtualized environments.
  • Btrfs performance improvements. Continued enhancing the performance of the Btrfs file system, improving scalability for large data sets.
  • Improved networking stack. Added improvements to the networking stack, enhancing performance for high-speed network interfaces and data centers.

Official documentation: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/

Linux Kernel 5.10 (December 2020)

Linux kernel 5.10 was a long-term support (LTS) release, bringing numerous improvements to file systems, security, and hardware support.

  • Enhanced Btrfs support. Improved the Btrfs file system with better performance, RAID5/6 fixes, and better handling of compressed files.
  • Support for new hardware. Added support for the latest Intel and AMD processors, improving multi-core scalability and power efficiency.
  • PREEMPT_RT patches. Integrated real-time (PREEMPT_RT) patches to improve the kernel's performance in low-latency environments, making it ideal for real-time computing and embedded systems.
  • Enhanced networking. Improved networking performance, especially for data centers with high-speed network interfaces.
  • Improved security features. Enhanced kernel security by continuing to add mitigations for speculative execution vulnerabilities like Spectre and Meltdown.

Official documentation: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/

Linux Kernel 5.0 (March 2019)

Linux kernel 5.0 brought improvements to hardware support, file system performance, and energy efficiency.

  • New hardware support. Added better support for Intel and AMD processors, ARM devices, and new graphics cards from NVIDIA and AMD.
  • Energy-aware scheduling. Improved the kernel’s ability to manage energy usage, particularly on mobile devices and laptops, improving battery life.
  • EXT4 performance improvements. Enhanced performance for the EXT4 file system, improving I/O handling and reducing latency for large workloads.
  • Networking enhancements. Continued improvements to the networking stack, with better support for high-speed interfaces and container networking.

Official documentation: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/

Linux Kernel 4.19 (October 2018)

Linux kernel 4.19 was another LTS release, providing long-term support for servers, data centers, and embedded systems.

  • Improved memory management. Enhanced memory management to reduce latency in high-performance computing environments and large-scale deployments.
  • Btrfs enhancements. Continued improvements to the Btrfs file system, particularly in terms of reliability and performance for RAID arrays.
  • ARM architecture support. Improved support for ARM devices, making the kernel more efficient on mobile devices and embedded systems.
  • Networking updates. Added optimizations for networking performance, particularly in environments with high-speed network interfaces and distributed systems.

Official documentation: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/

Linux Kernel 4.14 (November 2017)

Linux kernel 4.14 was another LTS release, with improvements focused on scalability, memory management, and hardware support.

  • Larger memory support. Added support for larger memory configurations, making the kernel more scalable in enterprise environments.
  • Better hardware support. Improved support for modern processors and graphics cards, ensuring better compatibility with new hardware.
  • File system improvements. Added enhancements to file systems like EXT4 and XFS, improving their performance in large-scale deployments.
  • Kernel Page Table Isolation (KPTI). Introduced KPTI as a mitigation for the Meltdown vulnerability, improving security in multi-user systems.

Official documentation: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/

Linux Kernel 4.9 (December 2016)

Linux kernel 4.9 was an LTS release that included numerous improvements in scalability, memory management, and file system performance.

  • Multi-queue block layer. Introduced the multi-queue block layer (blk-mq), improving the performance of storage devices by handling multiple I/O queues concurrently.
  • Btrfs improvements. Enhanced the Btrfs file system with better performance and stability, particularly for large-scale deployments.
  • Improved driver support. Added better support for newer graphics cards, network adapters, and other hardware devices.
  • Better networking stack. Continued improving the networking stack with better performance for high-speed network interfaces and containerized environments.

Official documentation: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/

Linux Kernel 4.0 (April 2015)

Linux kernel 4.0 introduced a simpler versioning scheme and brought improvements to performance, stability, and hardware support.

  • Live kernel patching. Introduced support for live kernel patching, allowing administrators to apply kernel updates without rebooting the system.
  • Improved hardware support. Enhanced support for new processors, graphics cards, and storage devices, improving system performance on modern hardware.
  • Networking improvements. Added optimizations for network interfaces, making the kernel more efficient in high-speed and virtualized environments.

Official documentation: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/

Linux Kernel 3.10 (June 2013)

Linux kernel 3.10 was an LTS release that brought significant improvements in file system performance, memory management, and security.

  • Btrfs enhancements. Continued improving the Btrfs file system, making it more stable and scalable for large-scale storage environments.
  • Improved memory management. Enhanced memory management features, including more efficient use of large memory configurations.
  • Better security features. Added new security features, including better mitigations for common vulnerabilities and improved access control mechanisms.
  • Networking updates. Improved support for high-speed networking interfaces and better performance in virtualized environments.

Official documentation: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/

Linux Kernel 3.0 (July 2011)

Linux kernel 3.0 marked the transition from the 2.x series to a new versioning scheme, though it was not a radical departure in terms of features.

  • New versioning scheme. Introduced a simplified versioning scheme, moving from 2.6.x to 3.x

without any major technical changes.

  • Performance enhancements. Included numerous performance optimizations, particularly for networking, file systems, and multi-core processors.
  • Improved hardware support. Added better support for modern processors, graphics cards, and storage devices.

Official documentation: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/

Linux Kernel 2.6 (December 2003)

Linux kernel 2.6 was a major release that introduced significant improvements in scalability, performance, and hardware support, marking the foundation for modern Linux systems.

  • Improved scheduler. Introduced a new process scheduler, improving performance for multi-core processors and reducing latency for real-time tasks.
  • Better file system support. Enhanced file system performance, including better support for large file systems and improved journaling capabilities.
  • Multi-threading improvements. Improved multi-threading support, making the kernel more efficient in high-performance computing environments.
  • New security features. Added new security features, including better access controls and mitigation techniques for common vulnerabilities.

Official documentation: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/

Linux Kernel 2.4 (January 2001)

Linux kernel 2.4 was a significant update that brought improvements in hardware support, networking, and scalability.

  • USB support. Introduced support for USB devices, making the kernel more suitable for modern hardware configurations.
  • Improved networking stack. Enhanced the networking stack with better support for high-speed network interfaces and improved routing capabilities.
  • Large memory support. Added support for systems with larger memory configurations, making the kernel more scalable for enterprise environments.

Official documentation: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/

Linux Kernel 2.2 (January 1999)

Linux kernel 2.2 brought improvements to the networking stack and introduced better support for multi-processor systems.

  • SMP support. Introduced support for symmetric multiprocessing (SMP), allowing Linux to run on systems with multiple processors.
  • Improved network performance. Enhanced the networking stack, making it more efficient for high-performance networking applications.
  • File system improvements. Continued improving file system performance, making Linux more suitable for large-scale storage environments.

Official documentation: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/

Linux Kernel 2.0 (June 1996)

Linux kernel 2.0 was the first major release to support multiple architectures and brought significant improvements in networking and file system performance.

  • Multi-platform support. Introduced support for running the kernel on non-x86 architectures, making it more versatile and suitable for different hardware platforms.
  • Improved networking stack. Enhanced the networking stack, allowing Linux to handle more complex networking tasks.
  • File system improvements. Improved file system performance, particularly in terms of reliability and scalability.

Official documentation: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/

Linux Kernel 1.0 (March 1994)

Linux kernel 1.0 was the first official stable release of the Linux kernel, marking the beginning of its long history as a powerful and versatile operating system kernel.

  • Networking support. Introduced built-in support for networking protocols, making Linux suitable for server environments.
  • File system support. Added support for multiple file systems, including EXT, providing flexibility in how data is managed on disk.
  • Multi-tasking. Implemented multi-tasking, allowing the system to run multiple processes simultaneously.

Official documentation: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/

Conclusion

Since its first release in 1991, the Linux kernel has undergone constant development, evolving into a powerful and scalable operating system kernel used by millions of servers, desktops, and embedded devices. Each version has brought new features, performance improvements, and support for modern hardware, ensuring that Linux remains at the forefront of innovation in the operating system landscape. With the introduction of new features like Rust support in Linux 6.1 and continuous improvements to security and performance, the Linux kernel continues to be a driving force in computing worldwide.

Snippet from Wikipedia: Linux kernel version history

This article documents the version history of the Linux kernel.

Each major version – identified by the first two numbers of a release version – is designated one of the following levels of support:

  • Supported until next stable version
  • Long-term support (LTS); maintained for a few years
  • Super-long-term support (SLTS); maintained for many more years by the Civil Infrastructure Platform (CIP)
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Linux:

Linux, kernel, systemd, init, GRUB (GRand Unified Bootloader), initramfs, ext4 (Fourth Extended Filesystem), XFS, Btrfs (B-Tree File System), zram, zswap, cgroups (Control Groups), namespaces, selinux (Security-Enhanced Linux), AppArmor, iptables, nftables, firewalld, auditd, journald, syslog, logrotate, dmesg, udev, eBPF (Extended Berkeley Packet Filter), KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine), QEMU (Quick Emulator), VirtIO, LXC (Linux Containers), Docker, Podman, CRI-O, Kubernetes Integration, etcd, Linux Control Groups, LXD (Linux Daemon), Snap, Flatpak, AppImage, RPM (Red Hat Package Manager), dpkg (Debian Package Manager), APT (Advanced Package Tool), YUM (Yellowdog Updater, Modified), DNF (Dandified YUM), Pacman, Zypper, Portage, emerge, Nix, pkg-config, ldconfig, make, cmake, autoconf, automake, configure, GCC (GNU Compiler Collection), Clang, glibc (GNU C Library), musl, libstdc++, libc, binutils, GNU Coreutils, Bash (Bourne Again Shell), Zsh (Z Shell), Fish Shell, dash, sh, SSH (Secure Shell), sshd (SSH Daemon), scp (Secure Copy), rsync, SCP (Secure Copy Protocol), wget, curl, ftp, sftp, TFTP (Trivial File Transfer Protocol), NFS (Network File System), CIFS (Common Internet File System), Samba, autofs, mount, umount, lsblk, blkid, parted, fdisk, gdisk, mkfs, fsck, tune2fs, xfs_repair, btrfs-progs, mdadm (Multiple Device Admin), RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks), LVM (Logical Volume Manager), thin provisioning, lvcreate, lvremove, vgcreate, vgremove, pvcreate, pvremove, multipath-tools, ISCSI (Internet Small Computer Systems Interface), nvme-cli, dm-crypt, cryptsetup, LUKS (Linux Unified Key Setup), dracut, GRUB Customizer, PXE (Preboot Execution Environment), tftpboot, Syslinux, LiveCD, LiveUSB, mkbootdisk, dd, cpio, tar, gzip, bzip2, xz, 7zip, zstd, rsyslog, sysctl, lsmod, modprobe, depmod, modinfo, insmod, rmmod, kmod, dkms (Dynamic Kernel Module Support), kernel tuning, kernel headers, kernel modules, patch, diff, strace, ltrace, ptrace, perf, htop, top, iotop, atop, vmstat, mpstat, sar, dstat, iostat, uptime, free, df, du, ps, pidstat, nice, renice, kill, pkill, killall, jobs, bg, fg, wait, nohup, screen, tmux, cron, crontab, at, anacron, systemctl, service, chkconfig, rc-update, update-rc.d, ntpd (Network Time Protocol Daemon), chronyd, hwclock, timedatectl, ntpdate, ufw (Uncomplicated Firewall), iptables-save, iptables-restore, fail2ban, denyhosts, tcp_wrappers, libcap, setcap, getcap, auditctl, ausearch, kernel parameters, boot parameters, sysfs, procfs, debugfs, tmpfs, ramfs, overlayfs, aufs, bind mounts, chroot, pivot_root, overlay2, network namespaces, bridge-utils, iproute2, ip, ifconfig, route, netstat, ss, arp, ping, traceroute, mtr, tcpdump, ngrep, nmap, arp-scan, ethtool, iwconfig, iw, wpa_supplicant, hostapd, dnsmasq, networkmanager, nmcli, nmtui, system-config-network, dhclient, dhcpd, isc-dhcp-server, bind9, named, unbound, nslookup, dig, resolvconf, iptables, nftables, firewalld, conntrack, ipset, snort, suricata, tcp_wrappers, rkhunter, chkrootkit, clamav, lynis, openvpn, strongswan, libreswan, openconnect, network namespaces, virtual ethernet, veth, tap interfaces, tun interfaces, vlan, bridge, brctl, ovs-vsctl, openvswitch, macvlan, ipvlan, bonding, teamd, network teaming, multipath, multipath-tools, route tables, ip rule, ip route, policy routing, qos, tc (Traffic Control), htb, fq_codel, cake, iptables NAT, iptables MASQUERADE, squid, socks5, privoxy, tor, iptables DNAT, iptables SNAT, iptables REDIRECT, conntrack, stateful firewall, stateless firewall, tcp_window_scaling, tcp_timestamps, tcp_sack, tcp_rmem, tcp_wmem, tcp_no_metrics_save, tcp_ecn, netem, ip6tables, ipset, ebtables, arptables, bridge-nf, br_netfilter, openvswitch, gre tunnels, ipip tunnels, vxlan, gretap, macsec, macvlan, ipvlan, wireguard, strongswan, libreswan, xfrm, ipsec, isakmpd, racoon, openswan, ikev2, ikev1, vpn tunnels, gre tunnels, vxlan tunnels, fou tunnels, ipip tunnels.

Linux Core Utilities commands - GNU Core Utilities command-line interface programs

This list should really only include standard universal commands that come with GNU Core Utilities.

Linux File system commands

Linux Text utilities:

Linux Shell utilities:

Unix Commands:

This should really only include standard universal commands that come with all Linux distributions adhering to the Single UNIX Specification.

Really this is “Unix programs”, since there are no commands in Unix, they are programs except for shell builtins.

Unix command-line interface programs and shell builtins:

Unix File system commands:

Unix process commands:

Unix user environment commands:

 [[env]]

Unix text processing commands:

Unix shell builtin commands:

 [[alias (command) ]] | [[ alias]]

Unix networking commands:

Note: Networking is not part of SUS

Unix network utility commands:

Unix searching commands:

Unix documentation commands:

Unix software development commands: Note: There are a huge number of Linux software development tools / Unix software development tools; this list should be restricted to ones that are standardized as part of Unix, i.e., those marked SD, CD], or FD (http://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/help/codes.html) within the Unix/POSIX specifications

Unix miscellaneous commands:

See also

References

Linux Commands (ls, cd, pwd, cp, mv, rm, mkdir, rmdir, touch, cat, less, head, tail, grep, find, chmod, chown, chgrp, tar, gzip, gunzip, df, du, ps, top, kill, man, ssh, scp, rsync, vim, nano, sed, awk, ping, ifconfig, netstat, route, traceroute, dig), Linux Fundamentals, Linux Inventor: Linus Torvalds says “Linux sucks | Linux just sucks less.”, Linux Best Practices - Linux Anti-Patterns, Linux kernel, Linux commands-Linux Shells-Linux CLI-GNU-Linux GUI-X11, Linux DevOps-Linux development-Linux system programming-Bash-zsh-Linux API, Linux package managers, Linux configuration management (Ansible on Linux, Chef on Linux, Puppet on Linux, PowerShell on Linux), Linux Distros (RHEL-Rocky Linux-CentOS (CentOS Stream)-Oracle Linux-Fedora, Ubuntu-Debian-Linux Mint-Raspberry Pi OS-Kali Linux-Tails, openSUSE - SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES), Arch Linux-Manjaro Linux, Alpine Linux-BusyBox - Slackware - Android-Chrome OS); UNIX-UNIX Distros (FreeBSD-OpenBSD, BSD, macOS), Linux networking, Linux storage, Linux secrets, Linux security (Linux IAM-LDAP-Linux Firewall-Linux Proxy), Linux docs, Linux GitHub, Linux Containers, Linux VM, Linux on AWS, Linux on Azure, Linux on GCP, Linux on Windows (WSL), Linux on IBM, Linux on Mainframe (Linux on IBM Z mainframe - Linux for System z - IBM LinuxONE), Embedded Linux, Linus IoT-Linux on Raspberry Pi, LinuxOps-Linux sysadmin, systemd-userland-kernel space-POSIX-SUS-Linux filesystem-Linux architecture, Linux books-UNIX books, Linux courses, Linux Foundation, Linux history, Linux philosophy, Linux adoption, Linux Glossary - Glossaire de Linux - French, Linux topics (navbar_linux and navbar_unix - see also navbar_fedora, navbar_rhel, navbar_centos, navbar_debian, navbar_ubuntu, navbar_linux_mint, navbar_freebsd, navbar_opensuse, navbar_manjaro, navbar_kali_linux, navbar_nixos, navbar_alpine_linux, navbar_tails_linux, navbar_slackware, navbar_rocky_linux, navbar_arch_linux, navbar_oracle_linux)

Linux Kernel:

Kernel:

Support:

Technical:

Linux Debugging:

Linux startup process

Linux kernel interfaces - Linux ABIs

Linux kernel interfaces | APIs

Kernel

SCI - Linux System Call Interface

In–kernel APIs - Linux In-kernel APIs

user space - Userspace:

Daemon (computing) - Daemons, Virtual file system - Linux File systems: 

   ]] | [[ group2 = [[Wrapper library]] | [[Wrapper
libraries]] 
   ]] | [[ list2 =

 ]] | [[ group5 = Components
 ]] | [[ list5  = 

 ]] | [[ group6 = Variants
 ]] | [[ list6  =

{{Navbox]] | [[subgroup
   ]] | [[ group1 = [[Virtualization]]
   ]] | [[ list1  =

]] | group7 = [[Linux adoption | Adoption ]] | list7 = {{Navbox | subgroup | group1 = [[Linux range of use | Range<br />of use

 ]] | [[ list1  =

Adopters:

(navbar_linux_kernel)

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linux_kernel_version_history.txt · Last modified: 2025/02/01 06:44 by 127.0.0.1
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