Linux Kernel 4.14 Released

Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux, announced the release of Linux kernel 4.14 on November 12, 2017. The release was due earlier but was delayed because of an AppArmor patch that caused regression. Torvalds lashed out at a Canonical developer who found the AppArmor regression but said that it was not a big deal.

Torvalds responded and said, “As far as the kernel is concerned, a regression is THE KERNEL NOT GIVING THE SAME END RESULT WITH THE SAME USER SPACE. The regression was in the kernel. You trying to shift the regressions somewhere else is bogus SHIT. And seriously, it's the kind of garbage that makes me think your opinion and your code cannot be relied on. If you are not willing to admit that your commit 651e28c5537a ("apparmor: add base infrastructure for socket mediation") caused a regression, then honestly, I don't want to get commits from you.”

Torvalds chose to delay the release instead of letting the regression go through.

Linux kernel 4.14 is expected to be the next LTS version. Greg Kroah-Hartman, the maintainer of the stable branch of the Linux kernel said, “So, here it is officially, 4.14 should be the next LTS kernel that I’ll be supporting with stable kernel patch backports for at least two years, unless it really is a horrid release and has major problems. If so, I reserve the right to pick a different kernel, but odds are, given just how well our development cycle has been going, that shouldn’t be a problem (although I guess I just doomed it now …).”

Some of the major highlights of the release include built-in HDMI CEC support for Raspberry Pi that allows users to control their Pi-powered devices from a single controller, as well as significant performance improvements in KVM, Xen, and Hyper-V. The release also improves EFI support, making it more secure and reliable.