Linux will be released on Sunday, August 29. This is a major release that will open the door to cloud and enterprise applications for many months. The 5.14 kernel update will bring security and performance enhancements.
Security is a key area of concern for cloud and enterprise users. Linux 5.14 will provide several new capabilities. TechCrunch spoke to Mike McGrath, Red Hat's vice president of Linux Engineering, about the new kernel update. Core scheduling is a feature that helps mitigate processor-level vulnerabilities such as Spectre or Meltdown. This vulnerability first appeared in 2018. Linux users can mitigate these vulnerabilities by disabling hyperthreading on CPUs, and thus taking a performance hit.
McGrath explained that the feature allows you to separate trusted and untrusted tasks, which reduces the threat surface but keeps cloud-scale performance relatively stable.
Linux 5.14 also has a feature that has been under development for more than a year and a half that will improve the security of system memory. Attacks on Linux and other operating systems use memory as a primary target for exploit. The new kernel has a memfd_secret (), which allows an application to run on a Linux system and create a memory range that is unaccessible to everyone else, even the kernel.
McGrath explained that cryptographic keys, sensitive information, and other secrets can be stored there to limit exposure for other users or system activity.
The Linux kernel is the core of the open-source Linux operating system, which powers much of enterprise applications delivery and cloud services. The kernel is the main component of system operation.
Over the past two months, seven Linux 5.14 release candidates have been released. The Linux 5.14 kernel benefits from 1,650 developers' contributions. Individual contributors as well as large vendors such IBM, Oracle, Intel and Samsung all contribute to Linux kernel development. Red Hat, an IBM business unit, is one of the biggest contributors to any Linux kernel release. Red Hat was acquired by IBM for $34 billion, in a deal that was completed in 2019.
McGrath stated that 5.14 has some innovative capabilities, as with almost every kernel release.
Although Linux 5.14 is expected to be available soon, many enterprises will not adopt it until then. McGrath stated that Linux 5.14 will appear first in Red Hats Fedora Linux distribution, and will then be part of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9. TechCrunch's Gerald Pfeifer, chief technology officer for enterprise Linux vendor SUSE, said that the openSUSE Tumbleweed community release of his company will likely include the Linux 5.14 Kernel within days of its official release. He also mentioned that SUSE Linux Enterprise 15, SP4, which is due next spring, will include Kernel 5.14.
This new Linux update marks a significant milestone in the open-source operating system's history. It was 30 years ago that Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux (pictured above), first announced his efforts publicly. Linux has evolved from a hobby project to being an infrastructure-powered operating system.
McGrath stated that Linux is the backbone of the modern cloud. Red Hat is excited about the future of edge computing, not only in telecommunications but across all industries from healthcare and manufacturing to entertainment and service providers.
Pfeifers believes that Linux will continue to be a major player in the future. Pfeifers noted that Linux and open-source have provided unprecedented opportunities for innovation over the past decades, as well as openness and independence.
In 30 years, will Linux, the kernel, still lead the pack? I don't know. Is it relevant? He said that it would be. Many of the technological advances we've made and created will continue to be important 30 years later. That is what I am sure.
