The upcoming Linux kernel release, version 7.2, marks a significant phase of both cleanup and enhancement for modern hardware support. A key change involves the complete removal of ARCnet hardware support for legacy ISA and PCMCIA interfaces. This decision aims to reduce maintenance overhead by eliminating approximately 5,200 lines of obsolete code, acknowledging that these older network adapters are rarely used in contemporary computing environments.
Concurrently, the kernel is expanding its hardware monitoring capabilities, particularly for Raspberry Pi single-board computers (SBCs). The relevant driver will be updated to expose voltage measurements from the firmware layer to Linux user-space via standard HWMON sysfs interfaces. This improvement allows for the precise monitoring of core and various SDRAM voltages in millivolts, providing critical data for system diagnostics and stability analysis.
In the graphics subsystem, Intel’s DRM driver will introduce support for the BACKGROUND_COLOR property in version 7.2. This feature enables hardware-accelerated solid color backgrounds, which significantly reduces video memory bandwidth usage compared to traditional software rendering methods. Collectively, these updates highlight Linux 7.2's dual strategy of shedding historical technical debt while enhancing performance and monitoring tools for current hardware platforms.