Linux kernel 6.1 or 6.6 for OpenWrt 24.x release?

[Hauke Mehrtens]

Hi,

I track the status of the Linux kernel 6.1 migration in this github 
issue: https://github.com/openwrt/openwrt/issues/14546

There are still many targets on kernel 5.15 without testing support for 
kernel 6.1 in OpenWrt master. I assume that we need at least 4 months to 
get everything to 6.1 and more or less stable. Kernel 6.1 support is 
also missing for some important targets like lantiq, realtek and ramips.


Which kernel should we use for the next major OpenWrt release?
We have two options and I would like to get some feedback on these:

1. Do the OpenWrt 24.X release with kernel 6.1. Branch off when all or 
most of the targets are on kernel 6.1 by default.
2. Do the OpenWrt 24.X release with kernel 6.6. Branch off when all or 
most of the targets are on kernel 6.6 by default. Do not do any stable 
OpenWrt release which supports kernel 6.1.

Doing a OpenWrt release with multiple kernels cases too much maintenance 
effort from my point of view based on previews experience.


I think with kernel 6.1 we can branch off at around May 2024. With 
kernel 6.6 we could probably branch off around September 2024. The final 
release will be out about 2 to 4 months later.

Currently OpenWrt releases are about 1.5 years behind the Linux LTS 
releases. When we use kernel 6.1 for the next release we will continue 
to stay 1.5 years behind. When we switch to kernel 6.6 and do not do any 
release with kernel 6.1 we will probably only stay 10 months behind 
Linux LTS kernels.

There is already a PR requiring kernel 6.6:
https://github.com/openwrt/openwrt/pull/14357


Currently I would prefer to use kernel 6.6 to get closer to the recent 
Linux LTS releases.

Hauke