- Linux 6.19 has just been released and Torvalds has confirmed that 7.0 will be next
- “Almost running out of fingers and toes again,” referring to finishing at x.19
- The latest major release (and the first in 2026) arrived to coincide with the Super Bowl
Linus Torvalds has confirmed that the next Linux kernel will be version 7.0 after the release of 6.19, and that will come as no surprise to those who know that Torvalds avoids version numbers he can’t count on his fingers and toes – a light-hearted internal naming convention that keeps version numbers below x.19.
Versions 3, 5 and 6 all ended up with x.19 before getting their upgrades, with version 4 standing out for hitting version x.20.
Version 7.0 is still a long way off, but version 6.19 has just landed, and with it a number of improvements.
Linux 6.19 is here, Linux 7.0 will be next
“No big surprises anywhere last week so 6.19 is out as expected – just as the US prepares to come to a complete standstill later today watching the latest series of TV commercials,” Torvalds wrote, hinting at this weekend’s Super Bowl.
“But for anyone outside the US, maybe taking the latest core out for a spin instead is an option?” he added.
As always, Linux 7.0 is unlikely to be more significant than any other upgrade. It will likely include a mix of performance improvements, hardware support updates, and other improvements.
Still, version 6.19 brings plenty of welcome upgrades as the first major release in 2026. For example, the update adds better support for older AMD GPUs and Intel platforms.
Looking forward, Linux 7.0 will likely continue to form the basis of popular Linux distros like Ubuntu 26.04.
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