New Articles in LWN About Linux, Python, and TLS

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Dec 18, 2025

• Kernel Space / File Systems / Virtualization

  • LWN ☛ The beginning of the 6.19 merge window

    As of this writing, 4,124 non-merge commits have been pulled into the mainline repository for the 6.19 kernel development cycle. That is a relatively small fraction of what can be expected this time around, but it contains quite a bit of significant work, with changes to many core kernel subsystems. Read on for a summary of the first part of the 6.19 merge window.

  • LWN ☛ An open seat on the TAB

    As has been recently announced, nominations are open for the 2025 Linux Foundation Technical Advisory Board (TAB) elections. I am one of the TAB members whose term is coming to an end, but I have decided that, after 18 years on the board, I will not be seeking re-election; instead, I will step aside and make room for a fresh voice. My time on the TAB has been rewarding, and I will be sad to leave; the TAB has an important role to play in the functioning of the kernel community.

• Python

  • LWN ☛ A "frozen" dictionary for Python

    Dictionaries are ubiquitous in Python code; they are the data structure of choice for a wide variety of tasks. But dictionaries are mutable, which makes them problematic for sharing data in concurrent code. Python has added various concurrency features to the language over the last decade or so—async, free threading without the global interpreter lock (GIL), and independent subinterpreters—but users must work out their own solution for an immutable dictionary that can be safely shared by concurrent code. There are existing modules that could be used, but a recent proposal, PEP 814 ("Add frozendict built-in type"), looks to bring the feature to the language itself.

    Victor Stinner announced the PEP that he and Donghee Na have authored in a post to the PEPs category of the Python discussion forum on November 13. The idea has come up before, including in PEP 416, which has essentially the same title as 814 and was authored by Stinner back in 2012. It was rejected by Guido van Rossum at the time, in part due to its target: a Python sandbox that never really panned out.

• Rust

  • LWN ☛ Eventual Rust in CPython

    Emma Smith and Kirill Podoprigora, two of Python's core developers, have opened a discussion about including Rust code in CPython, the reference implementation of the Python programming language. Initially, Rust would only be used for optional extension modules, but they would like to see Rust become a required dependency over time. The initial plan was to make Rust required by 2028, but Smith and Podoprigora indefinitely postponed that goal in response to concerns raised in the discussion.

• Confidentiality

  • LWN ☛ Disagreements over post-quantum encryption for TLS

    The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is the standards body responsible for the TLS encryption standard — which your browser is using right now to allow you to read LWN.net. As part of its work to keep TLS secure, the IETF has been entertaining proposals to adopt "post-quantum" cryptography (that is, cryptography that is not known to be easily broken by a quantum computer) for TLS version 1.3. Discussion of the proposal has exposed a large disagreement between participants who worried about weakened security and others who worried about weakened marketability.