Linux creator Linus Torvalds has released an official apologising statement for the unnoticed bug in the latest Linux kernel. The bug was left in the last Release Candidate — RC8 of Linux kernel 4.8.
The bug in the eighth Release Candidate has caused some serious problems while compiling the kernel. Some initial testers even reported that it results in a dead kernel.
“I am really sorry I applied that last series from Andrew just before doing the 4.8 release, because they cause problems, and now it is in 4.8 (and that buggy crap is marked for stable too),” Torvalds wrote in a community email.
Users need not have to worry about the bug as Linux 4.8 series is not powering any stable GNU or Linux distribution at the present stage. Also, distribution vendors will not have access to the latest kernel until Linux 4.8.1 is released.
You can expect Linux distros and OS vendors to compile and optimise kernel 4.8 for supported architectures shortly after the arrival of 4.8.1. This would include all the newest features including AMD GPU OverDrive support, Microsoft Surface 3 touch controller support, ACPI Low-Power Idle support, Nvidia Pascal support, ARM Mali display driver and native support for Raspberry Pi 3.
