14 DAY TRIAL // We reported earlier on the release of Linux kernel 4.1.18 LTS for GNU/Linux operating systems, as announced by Sasha Levin, but it looks like another kernel maintainer has posted news on the kernel mailing list about the release of Linux kernel 3.12.54 LTS.
Looking at the appended shortlog, it appears that the fifty-fourth maintenance release in the long-term supported Linux 3.12 kernel series is a modest one, changing a total of 71 files, with 512 insertions and 401 deletions. Most of these changes are bug fixes and improvements in various areas.
Among them, we can mention improvements to the ARM64 (AArch64), ARM, OpenRISC, mn10300, PowerPC (PPC), and x86 hardware architectures. There are also drivers updates, especially for things like Connector, GPU DRM (mostly Radeon), HID, InfiniBand, ISDN, MD, PA-RISC, networking, and USB.
"I'm announcing the release of the 3.12.54 kernel. All users of the 3.12 kernel series must upgrade," said Jiri Slaby in the announcement. "The updated 3.12.y git tree can be found at: git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-stable.git linux-3.12.y and can be browsed at the normal kernel.org git web browser: http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-stable.git;a=summary."
Sound and networking stack updates
Besides the updated drivers and architectures improvements, Linux kernel 3.12.54 LTS adds many sound enhancements, and a couple of mm, scripts, and crypto changes. Moreover, you'll see a few core kernel improvements and multiple changes to the networking stack, in particular for things like IPv6, IPv4, Phonet, XFRM, and SCTP (Stream Control Transmission Protocol).
All GNU/Linux fans who use an operating system powered by the long-term supported Linux 3.12 kernel series are urged to update their systems to the Linux kernel 3.12.54 LTS release as soon as possible. This can be done either by installing the binary packages from the main software repos of their distribution or by manually compiling the sources downloaded from the kernel.org website or via Softpedia.