The 6.18 merge window has come to an end, bringing with it a total of 11,974 non-merge commits, 3,499 of which came in after LWN's first-half summary. The total is a little higher than the 6.17 merge window, which saw 11,404 non-merge commits. There are once again a good number of changes and new features included in this release.
Version 1.12 of Julia has been released. Highlights of the release include new multi-threading features, new tracing flags and macros, and an experimental --trim feature. See the release notes for a full list of new features, changes, and improvements. LWN last covered Julia in January.
Perplexity, an AI-powered answer engine built into the browser".
Debian packagers have a great deal of latitude when it comes to the configuration of the software they package; they may opt, for example, to disable default features in software that they feel are a security hazard. However, packagers are expected to ensure that their packages comply with Debian Policy, regardless of the upstream's preferences. If a packager fails to comply with the policy, the Debian Technical Committee (TC) can step in to override them, which it has done in the case of a recent systemd change that broke several programs that depend on a world-writable /run/lock directory.
Note, this is the LAST 6.16.y kernel release, this branch is now end-of-life. Please move to the 6.17.y branch at this point in time."
This was one of the good merge windows where I didn't end up having to bisect any particular problem on [any] of the machines I was testing. Let's hope that success mostly translates to the bigger picture too."
Sudden increases in the size of Fedora's initramfs files have prompted the project to fast-track a proposal to increase the default size of the /boot partition for new installs of Fedora 43 and later. The project has also walked back a few changes that have contributed to larger initramfs files, but the ever-increasing size of firmware means that the need for more room is unavoidable. The Fedora Engineering Steering Council (FESCo) has approved a last-minute change just before the final freeze for Fedora 43 to increase the default size of the /boot partition from 1GB to 2GB; this will leave plenty of space for kernels and initramfs images if a user is installing from scratch, but it is of no help for users upgrading from Fedora 42.
Ubuntu 25.10, "Questing Quokka", has been released. This release includes Linux 6.17, GNOME 49, GCC 15, Python 3.13.7, Rust 1.85, and more. This release also features Rust-based implementations of sudo and coreutils; LWN covered the switch to the Rust-based tools in March. The 25.10 version of Ubuntu flavors Edubuntu, Kubuntu, Lubuntu, Ubuntu Budgie, Ubuntu Cinnamon, Ubuntu Kylin, Ubuntu MATE, Ubuntu Studio, and Xubuntu have also been released.
Firefox has long had support for multiple profiles to store personal information such as bookmarks, passwords, and user preferences. However, Firefox did not make profiles particularly discoverable or easy to manage. That is about to change; Mozilla has announced that it is launching a profile-management feature that will make it easier to create and switch between profiles. According to the support page for the feature, it will be rolled out to users gradually beginning on October 14.
The Rust for Linux project has been good for Rust, Tyler Mandry, one of the co-leads of Rust's language-design team, said. He gave a talk at Kangrejos 2025 covering upcoming Rust language features and thanking the Rust for Linux developers for helping drive them forward. Afterward, Benno Lossin and Xiangfei Ding went into more detail about their work on the three most important language features for kernel development: field projections, in-place initialization, and arbitrary self types.
Connexion