Main development phase of Linux 2.6.31 completed
Just over two weeks after the release of Linux 2.6.30, Linus Torvalds has released 2.6.31-rc1, the first release candidate of Linux 2.6.31. As usual, "rc1" completes the merge window during which the kernel hackers incorporate the majority of new features into the respective new version's main development branch. In the eight to eleven weeks that follow, the programmers tend to integrate only smaller changes to fix bugs in the newly merged code without causing any further problems. If the kernel hackers stick to their usual pace despite the summer and holiday season in the northern hemisphere, Linux 2.6.31 will probably be released in late August or early September.
As is often the case, the list of changes is rather long. For instance, 2.6.31 will be capable of kernel-based mode setting (KMS) with the Radeon models up to X1950 XTX. However, the code hasn't reached the developers' quality and security standards yet – they have classified the KMS driver as a staging driver which will mark the kernel as "crap" when loaded. As expected, the kernel developers have also integrated a driver for several PCI sound cards from Creative's Sound Blaster X-Fi series as well as drivers and an infrastructure for addressing USB 3.0 controllers with the Extensible Host Controller Interface (xHCI).
