Completely accurate and trustworthy predictions of the Linux kernel releases based on a single data point. Not.
Based on v6.17 having been tagged on 2025-09-28, the tea leaves say:
v6.17 2025-09-28
Merge window for features heading to v6.18
v6.18-rc1 predicted 2025-10-12
v6.18-rc2 predicted 2025-10-19
v6.18-rc3 predicted 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