Linus Torvalds has released Linux kernel 6.18, marking it as the new long-term support version with fixes until December 2027. Alpine Linux 3.23 quickly adopts the kernel alongside updates to packaging tools and other components. The release follows a flurry of bug fixes and comes amid year-end distro updates.
Linus Torvalds released Linux kernel 6.18 at the beginning of the week, incorporating numerous minor corrections during the final development stages. As the last kernel release of the year, it has been designated a long-term support (LTS) version, with support extending until December 2027. Torvalds noted on the Linux Kernel Mailing List, "While there are a few more bug fixes than I had hoped for, there was nothing that would make me believe it needed more time to cook, so 6.18 was marked and pushed out." The fixes primarily addressed minor issues in drivers, Bluetooth, Ceph, and afs.
Key innovations in kernel 6.18 include improved support for power-saving modes on Intel CPUs, enhanced efficiency for AMD GPUs, optimizations making the exFAT file system faster for small files, and a per-CPU cache for the SLUB memory allocator to boost performance. Bcachefs has been removed from the kernel but remains usable as a DKMS module. Google's PSP encryption is introduced for TCP connections. The previous kernel, 6.17, was released at the end of September.
Shortly after, Alpine Linux 3.23 arrived, integrating kernel 6.18. This release features APK 3.0.0 for packaging, dropping FTP download support while retaining the older index file format. Other updates encompass GCC 15, LLVM 21, FFmpeg 8, KDE Plasma 6.5.3, GNOME 49 (with systemd-dependent components limited to GNOME 48 versions), Sway 1.11, and LXQt 2.30. Alpine remains systemd-free and offers installation modes like diskless (running entirely from RAM), data disk, and system disk.
Greg Kroah-Hartman confirmed the LTS status, stating, "Can't add it to the front page yet, needs to have 6.19 released before that can happen." The prior LTS was 6.12, announced in December 2024. Kernel 5.4.302 marks the end of that series, with 1,539 documented vulnerabilities left unfixed. Other recent distro releases include Ultramarine 43, Solus 4.8, Endeavour OS Ganymede, 4MLinux 50, and a CachyOS snapshot.