The Linux community has received the thirteenth maintenance update to Linux kernel 4.9. This new version is debuted days after the arrival of Linux 4.10 and includes some major tweaks over the last 4.9 version.
The changelog of Linux kernel 4.9.13 is not a sheet-long list. However, the latest 4.9 release brings a total of 31 file changes, 365 insertions and 122 deletions.
In addition to the Linux 4.9.13 release, Linux maintainer Greg Kroah-Hartman has announced the arrival of Linux 4.4.52 LTS. This kernel build comes with 24 file changes, 218 insertions and 121 deletions.
Both the new Linux releases bring updated USB drivers, networking stack, RTC and TTY drivers. You can notice improvements through ark3116, cp210x, Realtek rtlwifi and Mellanox mlx5 Ethernet. Likewise, there are some minor changes to x86 architecture and XFS file system.
Upgraded networking stack
The updated Linux 4.9 and 4.4 series has also included an upgraded networking stack that comes with Datagram Congestion Control Protocol (DCCP), IrDA (Infrared Data Association), Logical Link Control (LLC) and kernel connection multiplexer (KCM).
All Linux 4.9 and 4.4 users are advised to install the latest update.
If you are using the GNU or Linux distribution powered by Linux 4.4 LTS or 4.9 LTS, you can wait until the distro packages the update for you. But if the core kernel is your choice, you can download the sources directly from the kernel.org website.
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