Linux Kernel 6.2 end of life cycle, developers urge users to upgrade to Linux Kernel 6.3. Linux 6.3 is already the default kernel in Arch Linux and openSUSE Tumbleweed, and it will soon be available in Fedora Linux.
The kernel.org website has marked the Linux kernel 6.2 series as EOL (end of life), which means it will no longer support bug and security fixes.
In February 2023, Linux kernel 6.2 introduced new features, including Protected Load Balancing (PLB) for the IPv6 stack, a new FineIBT control flow integrity mechanism for x86, support for Intel’s “asynchronous exit notification” mechanism, and more Rust infrastructure.
As a short-lived kernel branch, Linux 6.2 is now end-of-life (EOL), and kernel developer and maintainer Greg Kroah-Hartman today released Linux 6.2.16 and urged users to upgrade to the latest Linux 6.3 kernel family as soon as possible.
As a result, GNU/Linux distributions that use the Linux 6.2 kernel family are expected to upgrade to the latest Linux 6.3 kernel family soon. Most rolling distributions, such as Arch Linux or openSUSE Tumbleweed, and some of their derivatives, are already using the Linux kernel 6.3 family.
Linux kernel 6.3 was released in April 2023, and new features include a new Intel VPU DRM acceleration driver, BIG TCP support for IPv4, Rust code support for x86_64 user-mode Linux, “ZBB” bit manipulation extension support for the RISC-V kernel, and native Steam. bit manipulation extensions for the RISC-V kernel and native Steam Deck controller support.
Note that Linux kernel 6.3 is also not in the LTS (Note: Long Term Support) series and is expected to end its life cycle at the end of July, when it will be urged to upgrade to the new Linux 6.4 series — expected to be available in late June or early July 2023.
