Linux 6.15 Released: Major Performance & Hardware Upgrades

Linux 6.15, released on May 25, 2025, brings major updates to the open-source world with new features and Rust integration.

One of the highlights is the debut of NOVA, the first Direct Rendering Manager (DRM) driver written in Rust. It supports NVIDIA RTX 2000 “Turing” series and newer GPUs. NOVA is designed to replace the Nouveau driver, offering better performance and improved memory safety.

Rust support doesn’t stop at graphics. Linux 6.15 also includes Rust-based support for hrtimer and ARMv7, showing the growing use of Rust for safer, low-level kernel code.

Enabling Rust and NOVA in the Kernel

bashCONFIG_RUST=y

CONFIG_DRM_NOVA=y

Feature Overview

This release marks a shift toward safer kernel development by reducing memory-related bugs in critical components.

Linux 6.15 brings major performance boosts to file systems, especially for exFAT.

Thanks to smarter discard handling, deleting large files is now up to 150 times faster. For example, removing an 80GB file now takes just 1.6 seconds (down from over 4 minutes) when mounted with the discard option. This speedup comes from batching discard operations instead of handling clusters one by one.

mount -t exfat -o discard /dev/sdX1 /mnt/exfat
time rm /mnt/exfat/largefile.img

Other file system updates:

• Btrfs: Adds fast/realtime zstd compression (-15 to -1) and better handling of checksum-related write errors in VMs.
• FUSE: Supports longer file names (over 1024 characters) and server timeouts for better reliability.
• bcachefs: Adds case-insensitive file handling and a “scrub” feature for detecting and fixing errors.

Networking Improvements

Linux 6.15 also improves networking with zero-copy receive (zcrx) via io_uring, letting network data go directly to userspace memory. This removes the need for extra kernel-to-user copies and simplifies memory handling.

Another addition is the new TCP_RTO_MAX_MS option, giving more control over TCP retransmission timeouts.

Example:

int timeout_ms = 3000;
setsockopt(sockfd, IPPROTO_TCP, TCP_RTO_MAX_MS, &timeout_ms, sizeof(timeout_ms));

Summary Table

Hardware and Kernel Improvements in Linux 6.15

Linux 6.15 expands hardware support and improves core kernel features.

• Apple Touch Bar: Now fully supported on Intel and M1/M2 MacBook Pros, including touch input, backlight, and function key display.
• Samsung GalaxyBook: Gets full ACPI support for battery status, platform features, and function keys.
• Game Controllers: Better support for PlayStation 5, Xbox, and Turtle Beach devices, plus new drivers for racing and flight sim gear.
• Intel Killer E5000 Ethernet: Added with minimal changes for improved networking.

Kernel Infrastructure Updates

• fwctl: A new subsystem for handling firmware RPCs more consistently.
• fanotify API: Adds real-time mount/unmount event tracking.

Example: Use fanotify to watch filesystem events

fanotify_init(FAN_CLASS_NOTIF, O_RDONLY);
fanotify_mark(fd, FAN_MARK_ADD, FAN_MOUNT, AT_FDCWD, “/mnt”);

• Block Layer: Now supports hardware-encrypted keys, boosting disk security.

Summary Table

Linux 6.15 sets a strong foundation for faster, safer, and more hardware-friendly Linux systems.

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