The Linux Kernel Tea Leaves¶

Completely accurate and trustworthy predictions of the Linux kernel releases based on a single data point. Not.

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Based on v6.18-rc3 having been tagged on 2025-10-26, the tea leaves say:

v6.18 development cycle¶

Merge window for features heading to v6.18

v6.18-rc1 2025-10-12

v6.18-rc2 2025-10-19

v6.18-rc3 2025-10-26

v6.18-rc4 predicted 2025-11-02

v6.18-rc5 predicted 2025-11-09

The drm subsystem deadline for features heading to v6.19 release.

v6.18-rc6 predicted 2025-11-16

v6.18-rc7 predicted 2025-11-23

v6.18 release predicted 2025-11-30/2025-12-07

Merge window for features heading to v6.19

v6.19-rc1 predicted 2025-12-14/2025-12-21

v6.19-rc2 predicted 2025-12-21/2025-12-28

v6.19-rc3 predicted 2025-12-28/2026-01-04

v6.19-rc4 predicted 2026-01-04/2026-01-11

v6.19-rc5 predicted 2026-01-11/2026-01-18

The drm subsystem deadline for features heading to v7.0 release.

v6.19-rc6 predicted 2026-01-18/2026-01-25

v6.19-rc7 predicted 2026-01-25/2026-02-01

v6.19 release predicted 2026-02-01/2026-02-15

Merge window for features heading to v7.0

v7.0-rc1 predicted 2026-02-15/2026-03-01

v7.0-rc2 predicted 2026-02-22/2026-03-08

v7.0-rc3 predicted 2026-03-01/2026-03-15

v7.0-rc4 predicted 2026-03-08/2026-03-22

v7.0-rc5 predicted 2026-03-15/2026-03-29

The drm subsystem deadline for features heading to v7.1 release.

v7.0-rc6 predicted 2026-03-22/2026-04-05

v7.0-rc7 predicted 2026-03-29/2026-04-12

v7.0 release predicted 2026-04-05/2026-04-26