Our top Linux articles of 2024

Red Hat Developer's year in review

December 16, 2024
Anna Sherman
Related topics:
Linux
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Red Hat Enterprise LinuxRed Hat Enterprise Linux AI

It's that time of year again: we're recapping the highlights from the past year in Red Hat Developer's annual Best of series, showcasing the best of Ansible automation, languages and runtimes, Kubernetes and OpenShift, and more.

Linux has been a core component of Red Hat's product ecosystem since the very beginning. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) continues to add new features and enhancements to support the developer experience, most recently with last month's 9.5 release. This year also brought exciting new capabilities like image mode for Red Hat Enterprise Linux, a new deployment method for RHEL that delivers the platform as a container image.

Our 10 most popular Linux articles of 2024

These top articles cover a variety of topics, from C# 12 to the Go compiler to bootable containers in Podman Desktop. Let's dive in and see the Linux articles that engaged readers most this past year.

#10: Creating a VMDK using image mode for Red Hat Enterprise Linux

By Andrew Block

This article describes how to create image mode for RHEL-based bootc images for use within VMware environments. When included within reusable templates, the bootc images help enable a consistent method for delivering virtual environments.

You will see how to use the rhel-bootc base image to create a bootc image, then take the resulting image and produce a VMDK file using the bootc-image-builder utility. At that point, you will have established the base primitives to support using it at scale within a VMware vSphere environment (covered in a follow-up article).

Read it here: Creating a VMDK using image mode for Red Hat Enterprise Linux

#9: Some more C# 12

By Tom Deseyn

As part of his series introducing the latest C# version, author Tom Deseyn examines advanced features including inline arrays, optional params and params in lambda expressions, ref readonly parameters, and more. The article demonstrates how each of these features helps improve C# for specific use cases.

Read it here: Some more C# 12

#8: An update on packet drop reasons in Linux

By Antoine Tenart

This article discusses new support for packet drop reasons in the Linux kernel and advises readers on how to avoid common pitfalls, particularly between kernel versions.

With this information, developers can gain increased visibility and insight into why certain packets are dropped. While retrieving and making sense of the drop reasons can be tricky due to its implementation, it's easy to avoid issues by understanding how drop reasons work and by using the right tools. 

Read it here: An update on packet drop reasons in Linux

#7: C# 12: Collection expressions and primary constructors

By Tom Deseyn

Part 1 of Deseyn's C# 12 series was also popular with Red Hat Developer readers this year. This first installment covers two simpler features, collection expressions and primary constructors, that can be useful in everyday C# development. 

Read it here: C# 12: Collection expressions and primary constructors

#6: Introducing image mode for RHEL and bootable containers in Podman Desktop

By Tim deBoer and Charlie Drage

Image mode for RHEL unifies operating systems and containers, allowing you to build and manage a full operating system just like a container image. 

This article gives an overview of bootable containers and building disk images. The authors also show how an extension for Podman Desktop provides an easy way to get started with each of these features.

Read it here: Introducing image mode for RHEL and bootable containers in Podman Desktop

#5: Register allocation in the Go compiler

By Vladimir Makarov

When he discovered insufficient documentation for the Go compiler, author Vladimir Makarov decided to examine the source code himself to gain a deeper understanding of the compiler's register allocators. 

This article details his findings, providing a high-level overview first before diving into specific features. He summarizes his findings in a comprehensive list of pros and cons to help other users to make informed decisions when using the compiler.

Read it here: Register allocation in the Go compiler

#4: Limitations of frame pointer unwinding

By Serhei Makarov

Serhei Makarov found that 3 key issues with frame pointer unwinding had been overlooked in discussions of commonly used Linux distributions:

  1. Uneven distribution of performance gains and losses
  2. Function prologues and epilogues
  3. Assembly-code functions in libraries

This article addresses each of these limitations in detail.

Read it here: Limitations of frame pointer unwinding

#3: Exploring x86-64-v3 for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10

By Florian Weimer

In anticipation of the release of RHEL 10, author Florian Weimer explores whether the instruction set architecture (ISA) baseline can be upgraded from the x86-64-v2 microarchitecture level (currently supported in RHEL 9) to the x86-64-v3 level in version 10.

Since the article's publication, it has been confirmed that this update will occur, promising exciting new capabilities for RHEL 10 users.

Read it here: Exploring x86-64-v3 for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10

#2: New C++ features in GCC 14 

By Marek Polacek

The GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) 14.1 was released on May 7, 2024, bringing with it several additions, improvements, bug fixes, and new features. This article describes these new features and enhancements in the C++ front end in GCC 14. 

Read it here: New C++ features in GCC 14 

#1: Improvements to static analysis in the GCC 14 compiler 

By David Malcolm

At #1, our most popular Linux article of 2024 summarizes updates to the static analysis pass -fanalyzer in GCC 14, which was released earlier this year. 

-fanalyzer tries to identify various problems at compile-time, rather than at runtime—a unique utility that clearly proved useful to many a Linux developer. Read on to discover all that -fanalyzer can do for you.

Read it here: Improvements to static analysis in the GCC 14 compiler 

Boost your Linux knowledge

If you're looking for more foundational Linux resources, Red Hat Developer is still the right place to be! Check out the following cheat sheets for brief, practical guides to working with Linux:

These e-books give you the opportunity to dig deeper into Linux, providing how-tos on specific scenarios and use cases:

Finally, gain hands-on Linux experience with interactive labs and learning paths:

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The rest of the best

We'll be back with more content for tech practitioners in 2025. In the meantime, don't miss the rest of our 2024 year in review:

Last updated: December 20, 2024