In the development of all software there are ups and downs, but that is something that was not happening in the next version of the Linux kernel ... until yesterday Sunday. Linus torvalds He launched Linux 5.9-rc4 And, although this week there is no really outstanding news, it does say that it has increased in size with respect to the v5.9-rc3, but it has its explanation. Also, and as always, the father of Linux remains calm.
Torvalds is never nervous, but this week he is calm because everything that has increased Linux 5.9-rc4 was what was missing from rc3. That has made this fourth Release Candidate larger than normal in this phase of kernel development, but nothing worrisome considering that it is not one of the heaviest in history. Although it is above average, it falls within what would be classified as "normal."
Linux 5.9-rc4 grows, but is totally normal
Hey I said last weekend that rc3 was pretty small, probably due to common time fluctuations in pull requests. And guess what? Here we are, a week later, and yes, rc4 has all the missing pieces in rc3, and it's bigger than usual. It's not outrageously so, and we've had bigger rc4s, so while it's slightly larger than average, everything is within the normal range, and It's not something I'll lose sleep over
Linux 5.9 should arrive on october 4, the 11 if it requires a rc8. Therefore, it will not arrive in time to be included in the Ubuntu 20.10 Groovy Gorilla that will be released on October 22. Users interested in enjoying it when the time comes, something that I personally never recommend because I prefer to use the version of the kernel that my distribution offers me, will have to perform the manual installation. Another option that we always "recommend" is to install the new kernel using the Ukuu tool, from which we can also do the "Downgrade" if we experience a problem.