Maintenance of Linux kernel 2.6.32 is slowing down

Greg Kroah-Hartman has released Linux kernel 2.6.32.58 and, at the same time, announced that he will no longer maintain the kernel version 2.6.32, which was originally introduced in December 2009. He had previously announced his plans in the last few months but had not given an exact date. Kroah-Hartman strongly recommends that those using 2.6.32 kernels switch to Linux 3.0, which he will continue to maintain as a longterm kernel until at least late summer 2013.

Maintenance of the 2.6.32 kernel will not completely stop, however, but will continue in an "extended-longterm" model, as Kroah-Hartman calls it. Willy Tarreau, who is already maintaining Linux 2.4 and 2.6.27, will now also take over version 2.6.32. He explained that new kernel versions based on Linux 2.6.32 will now appear much less often, as is already the case for the Linux 2.6.27 series, which was just recently updated for the first time in nine months.

Meanwhile, kernel 3.3 is close to being completed: Linus Torvalds announced in his e-mail about the sixth release candidate that 3.3-RC6 may be the last release candidate for Linux 3.3. The Kernel Log looks at some of the changes in this version in the third part of its "Coming in 3.3" series, recently published at The H:

• Kernel Log: Coming in 3.3 (Part 3) – Architecture and infrastructure

(djwm)