Linux kernel 4.9.8 is now considered the most advanced stable kernel build there is for GNU/Linux operating systems, and, if you’re using a distribution powered by this branch, such as Arch Linux, Solus, openSUSE Tumbleweed, etc., you’ll have to update as soon as it lands in the main repositories. According to the appended shortlog, the Linux 4.9.8 kernel is a small patch changing a total of 57 files, with 473 insertions and 273 deletions. Taking a quick look at the changes, we can notice that most of the Linux kernel 4.9.8 patch are networking changes, both for the networking stack, adding various improvements to the IPv6, IPv4, Distributed Switch Architecture (DSA), AX.25, MPLS (Multi Protocol Label Switching), Open vSwitch, Bridge, and packet scheduler support, as well as the drivers, with Ethernet (Broadcom, Mellanox, Renesas), Hyper-V, MacVTap, PHY, TUN, USB, Virtio, and Virtual Extensible LAN (VXLAN) fixes.