As of today, the Linux kernel 6.15 series has officially reached its end of life (EOL), prompting users to upgrade to the newer Linux kernel 6.16. Released on July 28, 2025, kernel 6.16 has already started appearing in various distributions like openSUSE Tumbleweed and Arch Linux.
Linux kernel 6.15, launched on May 25, 2025, was notable for its introduction of several features, including Rust support for hrtimer and ARMv7, a new setcpuid= boot parameter for x86 CPUs, enhancements for Intel and AMD PMUs, and nested virtualization support for VGICv3 on ARM. Despite these advancements, 6.15 is not a long-term support (LTS) version, and its last maintenance release, 6.15.11, was issued today by Greg Kroah-Hartman, who urges users to transition promptly to version 6.16.
Kernel 6.16 brings additional features, such as initial support for Intel Trusted Domain Extensions, Advanced Performance Extensions, USB audio support, and enhancements for sending core dumps over AF_UNIX sockets. While 6.16 is a short-lived release, users seeking stability might consider LTS versions like kernel 6.12, the default in Debian 13 “Trixie”, or the LTS offerings of 6.6 and 6.1.
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