Desktop and Graphics: Emacs 31.1, GNOME RFCs, GPU patches

Emacs 31.1 landed with source and Windows binaries while GNOME iterated on a formal RFC process. Kernel graphics lists advanced nova, PowerVR, rocket NPU, IGT, and Tegra dma-buf work.

Emacs 31.1 released

Emacs 31.1 source and Windows binaries were announced on emacs-devel. The thread also covered a minor build bug report and terminology clarifications around package addition. Editor users and packagers now have a concrete new release to adopt and test.

Compatibility of old programs across upgrades

Richard Stallman opened an emacs-devel thread examining concrete GCC and Glibc changes that break older Emacs builds. Participants discussed possible distro and Emacs practice adjustments aimed at longer-term binary compatibility. Maintainers who keep legacy Emacs or similar tools running across system upgrades have a direct stake in the outcome.

GNOME RFC process proposal

GNOME contributors discussed and refined a formal RFC process for governance and technical decisions on the project Discourse. The exchange spans process design rather than any single feature. Developers who submit or review large GNOME changes will be affected by how the mechanism settles.

Nova GPU parameter export

A v5 patch series on dri-devel proposes exporting chip and architecture parameters from nova-core to nova-drm through an ioctl interface, accompanied by API design debate. Four participants exchanged fifty-one messages on the series. The work shapes how userspace learns hardware details from the nova driver stack.

PowerVR MT8173 GPU support

A v4 series on dri-devel adds support for the MT8173 PowerVR GX6250 GPU. Device-tree bindings were applied and firmware plus rendering issues were resolved during testing. Platforms that ship this SoC gain a clearer path to upstream graphics enablement.

Rocket NPU DVFS on RK3588

A seven-patch series adds devfreq DVFS, an OPP table, and thermal cooling support to the rocket NPU driver for the RK3588. Two participants reviewed the work on dri-devel. The changes improve power and thermal management for that Rockchip neural accelerator.

IGT cgroup device-memory tests

A v6 IGT patchset introduces an igt_cgroup dmem library and tests that exercise cgroup v2 device-memory limits and eviction on Xe and amdgpu. Two participants handled the sixteen-message review. Driver authors gain automated coverage for memory cgroup behavior under load.

Tegra VPR dma-buf heap

A v6 series adds Tegra VPR support to dma-buf heaps. Automated reviews flagged high-severity CMA and page-mapping issues during the twenty-six-message exchange among three participants. The patches target NVIDIA Tegra memory heaps while the reported problems remain open for resolution.