Zack's Kernel News
Zack's Kernel News
This month in Kernel News: Spanking Linus; Controlling Boot Parameters via Sysfs; Finessing GCC; and Dealing with Loose Build Dependencies.
Spanking Linus
Dave Airlie posted an update to the DRM code awhile back. One of the Linux kernel's little jokes was to take the established acronym for Digital Rights Management, which is essentially an anti-open source concept, and repurpose it to mean Direct Rendering Manager, which is the kernel subsystem that deals with video card GPUs.
It was a standard update, except Linus Torvalds got his knuckles rapped at the end of it.
Linus received the patch, saying, "thanks, looks good to me," and life proceeded. The tracker bot announced that the patch had been merged. However, once Linus built the kernel with clang – an alternative to the GNU C Compiler (GCC) – he found that clang reported some fishy looking code in Dave's patch.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
The Bullet-Proof KDE Software Initiative Is Coming
KDE, Techpaladin, and Kubuntu Focus have announced a new initiative that will provide at least three years of support for KDE Plasma 6.6 LTS and related software.
-
Linux Mint Shares a Possible Kernel Cleanup Solution
For those on Linux Mint who like to keep multiple kernels around but don't want them to take up too much space, you might be getting a new automated tool.
-
CachyOS Gets an Update
CachyOS August 2026 release is now available with the latest version of KDE, some new features, and plenty of improvements.
-
The Linux Kernel Dev Staging Area Now Rejects AI-Generated Patches
Unless a kernel patch is a valid security fix, it will be rejected if it was created using AI.
-
Linux Surpasses Double-Digit Market Share
According to two sources, the Linux operating system has hit a major milestone in market share that naysayers thought would never happen.
-
AI Helped Develop a Linux Exploit
A use-after-free race exploit was discovered and exploited on CentOS Stream 9.
-
Yet Another Linux Kernel Vulnerability Discovered
Affecting millions of systems, a kernel flaw discovered by Qualys could allow users to gain root privileges.
-
Ubuntu 26.10 to Include Ubuntu Certified Hardware Check
If you've ever wondered if your laptop or PC is officially certified to run Ubuntu, that curiosity will soon be met.
-
Substantial Update to IPFire Now Available
The lastest version of IPFire features a fundamental change to how the system handles DNS.
-
Gnome Working on Test Center App to Make Testing Easier
It's now possible to test experimental features on the Gnome desktop without worrying that you'll break things.