The Linux kernel is the backbone of Linux operating systems (OS), and is the fundamental interface between a computer's hardware and its processes.
A few days ago on the website of "Linux Journal" a post was shared in which talk a little about the topics discussed at the Open Source Summit Europe, in which Jonathan Corbet, Linux kernel developer, mentioned a little about the direction that development would be taking within the Kernel of Linux in the coming years.
The publication highlighted with great importance the issue of the development of the LTS versions of Linux, which at this time and in the future could be a big problem, given the characteristics of these versions, being especially the issue of the support time they have. these.
And in the publication it is mentioned that Linux kernel developers, pThey intend to limit themselves to a two-year update cycle for LTS branches of the Linux kernel. Formally, the maintenance time for LTS versions remains 2 years, pBut during the last five years the period update release has been extended to 6 years if the kernel continues to be in demand and industry representatives are ready to help developers provide maintenance.
In the future, This extension is questioned, since there is a decrease in interest on using old LTS kernels: most users port their products to newer kernel branches early and 6 years is perceived as an excessive period.
In addition, as the number of LTS versions increases, increases the burden on maintainers, whose work becomes routine and is reduced to continuous support of corrections. This burden causes assistant exhaustion and loss of interest in continuing to work.
Maintainer burnout is considered one of the most serious problems in the kernel development community. Despite corporate support, most participants in kernel development act as volunteers out of interest: only about 200 developers out of more than 2.000 active development participants receive payment for their work. The constant monotony of fixing minor bugs, performing fuzzy testing and reviewing changes exhausts developers and leads to a loss of interest in the maintainer's work.
This maintainer burnout represents a serious threat, as Corbet highlighted. Linux maintenance is largely a volunteer effort, and only about 200 of the more than 2000 developers paid for their contributions. The endless demands on maintainers' time due to fuzz testing, fixing minor bugs, and reviewing contributions take their toll. Prominent maintainers have warned that they need help to avoid collapse. Companies that depend on Linux must realize that giving back financially is in their best interest to sustain this vital ecosystem.
Also highlighted among the problems is the danger of the appearance of branches of the Linux kernel that are separated from the main kernel and depend on individual vendors. Branches like this can result from distributions like Red Hat Enterprise Linux that use kernel packages based on very old versions of the kernel with backed-up changes.
The danger with these branches is that by selectively pushing changes, you may miss fixes for vulnerabilities and serious issues. Additionally, they make it difficult to analyze the errors that occur, since it is not always clear whether the problem manifests itself in the main core or is caused by manufacturer-specific changes.
It is mentioned that a more correct model for maintaining kernels is to follow a model similar to that of Android that is based on transferring all changes from the main kernel and developing the necessary innovations in the main kernel, instead of maintaining its own version of the kernel, including changes specific to the Android platform.
The full change migration model is beneficial primarily from a security point of view, since when patches are selectively migrated, the connection between the fix and the elimination of potential security issues is not always obvious. When changes are fully migrated, the issue is often resolved before there is information that the fix blocks the vulnerability.
Finally If you are interested in knowing more about it, you can check the details in the following link