14 DAY TRIAL // Just a few moments ago, July 15, 2016, the Arch Linux kernel maintainers managed to upgrade the operating system's stable kernel to the recently released Linux 4.6.4 version.
Announced four days ago, on July 11, Linux kernel 4.6.4 was introduced by Greg Kroah-Hartman as a pretty small maintenance update changing a total of 36 files, with 216 insertions and 98 deletions. However, the developer urged GNU/Linux distribution maintainers to upgrade to this version as soon as possible.
To get an overview of the changes implemented in Linux kernel 4.6.4, we can tell you that it updates a few USB drivers and the networking stack, with improvements to the AX.25 data link layer protocol, the IPv6 and IPv4 protocols, kernel connection multiplexer (KCM), bridge, and the packet scheduler.
Arch Linux users are now getting Linux kernel 4.6.4
Earlier this week, we reported on the availability of a custom 64-bit 4.6.4 kernel for Slackware-based operating systems, including but not limited to Slax, Zenwalk, and SlackEX. Other distributions, such as PCLinuxOS, also got the latest Linux 4.6.4 kernel, and now the time has come for Arch Linux users to get Linux kernel 4.6.4 as well.
After four days of testing, the Arch Linux developers managed to push the Linux 4.6.4 kernel to the stable channels, and you can upgrade your installation as we speak by running the "pacman -Syu" command in your favorite terminal emulator. That's because we always recommend that you keep your OS up to date with the latest security patches.
In related news, if you're using the long-term supported (LTS) kernel alternative in your Arch Linux operating system, we would like to inform you that the latest version, Linux kernel 4.4.15 LTS, which was released on the same day as Linux kernel 4.6.4, is also available in the stable software repositories of the distribution.