Linux 5.0

Linux 5.0 has been released (what used to be "4.21"). Linus is very clear that no kernel release is a feature release and the 5.0 divide is more an arbitrary numerical cutoff than anything else, but there are some important advancements in Linux 5.0 such as improved AMD GPU support, support for AMD FreeSync, file system improvements (especially to encryption performance), continued Y2038 work and various additional device support. I suspect that Talos users will find improvements to the ASpeed BMC media driver particularly relevant; my guess is this is part of the kernel support that the Blackbird is waiting on.

Probably the most notable Power ISA-specific feature in Linux 5.0 final is support for the POWER On-Chip Controller in POWER8/POWER9, exposing temperature, frequency, power usage and other sensor data through hwmon. This will likely enable Talos-family owners to get even better environmental monitoring support for their machines. Other Power-specific changes include Spectre V2 mitigations for many NXP/Freescale Power CPUs, various KVM improvements and even some improvements for P. A. Semi chips (get that X1000 out and celebrate).

Read the full changelog if you dare, or an annotated summary.