- Linux 6.19 just came out, and Torvalds has confirmed that 7.0 will be next
- “Almost running out of fingers and toes again,” in reference to ending at x.19
- The latest major release (and first of 2026) arrived at the same time as the Super Bowl
Linus Torvalds has confirmed that the next Linux kernel will be version 7.0 following the release of 6.19, and it hasn’t come as a surprise to those who know Torvalds avoids version numbers he can’t count on his fingers and toes – a light-hearted internal naming convention that keeps version numbers below x.19.
Versions 3, 5 and 6 all ended with x.19 before getting their upgrades, with version 4 standing out for hitting version x.20.
Version 7.0 is still some way off just yet, but version 6.19 has just landed, and with it a series of improvements.
Linux 6.19 is here, Linux 7.0 will be next
“No big surprises anywhere last week, so 6.19 is out as expected – just as the US prepares to come to a complete standstill later today watching the latest batch of televised commercials,” Torvalds wrote, hinting at the weekend’s Super Bowl.
“But for anybody outside the US, maybe taking the newest kernel out for a spin instead is an option?” he added.
As ever, Linux 7.0 isn’t likely to be any more significant than any other upgrade. It’s likely to include a mix of performance improvements, hardware support updates and other enhancements.
Still, version 6.19 brings plenty of welcome upgrades as the first major release of 2026. For example, the update adds better support for older AMD GPUs and Intel platforms.
Looking ahead, Linux 7.0 will likely go on to form the basis of popular Linux distros like Ubuntu 26.04.
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