Completely accurate and trustworthy predictions of the Linux kernel releases based on a single data point. Not.
Based on v6.17-rc2 having been tagged on 2025-08-17, the tea leaves say:
v6.16 2025-07-27
Merge window for features heading to v6.17
v6.17-rc1 2025-08-10
v6.17-rc2 2025-08-17
v6.17-rc3 predicted 2025-08-24
v6.17-rc4 predicted 2025-08-31
v6.17-rc5 predicted 2025-09-07
The drm subsystem deadline for features heading to v6.18 release.
v6.17-rc6 predicted 2025-09-14
v6.17-rc7 predicted 2025-09-21
v6.17 release predicted 2025-09-28/2025-10-05
Merge window for features heading to v6.18
v6.18-rc1 predicted 2025-10-12/2025-10-19
v6.18-rc2 predicted 2025-10-19/2025-10-26
v6.18-rc3 predicted 2025-10-26/2025-11-02
v6.18-rc4 predicted 2025-11-02/2025-11-09
v6.18-rc5 predicted 2025-11-09/2025-11-16
The drm subsystem deadline for features heading to v6.19 release.
v6.18-rc6 predicted 2025-11-16/2025-11-23
v6.18-rc7 predicted 2025-11-23/2025-11-30
v6.18 release predicted 2025-11-30/2025-12-14
Merge window for features heading to v6.19
v6.19-rc1 predicted 2025-12-14/2025-12-28
v6.19-rc2 predicted 2025-12-21/2026-01-04
v6.19-rc3 predicted 2025-12-28/2026-01-11
v6.19-rc4 predicted 2026-01-04/2026-01-18
v6.19-rc5 predicted 2026-01-11/2026-01-25
The drm subsystem deadline for features heading to v7.0 release.
v6.19-rc6 predicted 2026-01-18/2026-02-01
v6.19-rc7 predicted 2026-01-25/2026-02-08
v6.19 release predicted 2026-02-01/2026-02-22