A week ago arrived a second Linux 5.18 RC which was pretty normal. It is in the second weeks when the problems begin to be noticed, but it was not the case. A few hours ago they have given us Linux 5.18-rc3, new development version that arrived on Easter Sunday. Torvalds knows it (Yes, yes, it's Easter Sunday, a matter of priorities, people!), but this train never stops, be it a holiday or a disaster, natural or unnatural.
And with Linux 5.18-rc3 everything is still going very normal. Last week nobody was on vacation and no problems began to be found, but this Sunday it could be that people have been in Holy Week (Easter for Americans). Torvalds doesn't mention it, but it stands to reason that it's a possibility. If so, the problems or shocks could appear next Sunday.
Linux 5.18 expected on May 22
It's Sunday afternoon, and everyone knows what that means. Time for another release candidate. (Yes, yes, it's also Easter Sunday, but priorities, people!). Things still look pretty regular, although the diffstat might look a bit strange due to some email updates that ended up causing a bunch of single-line updates to the devicetree files. There are also a number of fixes in sound card polling error handling ("Fix missing snd_card_free() call on polling error") which ends up showing a bunch of few lines through a series of sound drivers. But everything seems quite small and quite simple. famous last words
It is early to know when the stable version of Linux 5.18 will be released, but it is expected for the May 22. If any problems appear, the launch would be delayed by a week, in which case it would be available on May 29.