Linux Kernel 7.3 Released
Original: Linux 7.3 Released
Why This Matters
Record contributor count signals continued strong growth in kernel development.
Linus Torvalds released Linux kernel 7.3 on Oct 18, 2026. The release set records with 18,765 commits from 3,021 developers, 807 of them first-timers. The 7.4 merge window opens the next day.
Linux 7.3 is out, and by Torvalds' own admission, the release was unremarkable in the best way — no last-minute chaos, no day-of-week confusion. The numbers tell a different story: 18,765 non-merge commits from 3,021 developers make this a record release, with 807 contributors submitting their first kernel patch.
Notable additions include binfmt_misc extensions, group-scheduling improvements targeting large-system performance, the new failfs filesystem (which deliberately fails all operations), the fchroot() system call, global per-CPU data for BPF programs, working-set tracking for VMs, alternative data-stream support in ntfs3, and a wide set of SMB server improvements. The sched_ext subscheduler feature also lands as complete.
The 7.4 merge window opens immediately after, though Torvalds noted he'll be on a family vacation — diving, literally — and plans to merge pull requests from a boat. His schedule will be 'a bit unusual for a while.'