Linux 5.9 Release: Enhanced Support for Arm, MIPS and RISC-V Architectures

Linus Torvalds has just announced the release of Linux 5.9 on lkml : "Ok, so I’ll be honest – I had hoped for quite a bit fewer changes this last week, but at the same time there doesn’t really seem to be anything particularly scary in here. It’s just more commits and more lines changed than I would have wished for."

Linux 5.8 added basic support for IBM POWER10 Processor, support for inline encryption hardware usually found in storage devices, the Kernel Concurrency Sanitizer (KCSAN) dynamic data race detector for kernel space, and more.

Some of the most notable changes in Linux 5.9 release include:

• zstd compression support for kernel and initramfs for faster boot times
• Initial support for AMD Radeon RX 6000 graphics cards
• Initial support for Intel Emmitsburg architecture wihch looks to be using some of the same IP as in Ice Lake and Cannon Lake.
• GPU support for Rocket Lake processors