[$] The 5.6 merge window opens

As of this writing, 4,726 non-merge changesets have been pulled into themainline repository for the 5.6 development cycle. That is a relativelyslow start by contemporary kernel standards, but it still is enough tobring a number of new features, some of which have been pending for years,into the mainline. Read on for a summary of the changes pulled in theearly part of the 5.6 merge window.