Version 2.53.0 of the Git source-code management system has been released. Changes include documentation for the Git data model, the ability to choose the diff algorithm to use with git blame, a new white-space error class, and more; see the announcement for details.

The kernel's swap subsystem is a complex and often unloved beast. It is also a critical component in the memory-management subsystem and has a significant impact on the performance of the system as a whole. At the 2025 Linux Storage, Filesystem, Memory-Management and BPF Summit, Kairui Song outlined a plan to simplify and optimize the kernel's swap code. A first installment of that work, written with help from Chris Li, was merged for the 6.18 release. This article will catch up with the 6.18 work, setting the stage for a future look at the changes that are yet to be merged.

The 6.19-rc8 kernel prepatch is out for testing. "So things all look good, and unless something odd happens we'll have a final 6.19 next weekend."